What we actually think about the NHS.

NSee?

It’s easy………when you know what you are doing!

You would think that everyone agreed with the Government and the managers of the NHS.

Static budgets at a time of high inflation means real cuts to the NHS.

At the same time the cost of care for the elderly and the cost of new drugs soars.

That means real cuts in services.

That’s what we all want, isn’t it?

Eh no, here’s a Guardian report on an IPSOS/MORI opinion poll in May 2014 which shows what we all feel about the NHS and it’s future;

 

 

Denis Campbell, health correspondent

 

   

The Guardian, Thursday 8 May 2014 20.43 BST     

 

 

Four out of five people in Britain believe the NHS should be protected from government spending cuts, according to a survey which reaffirmed the high level of affection in which the service is held.

 

Asked which two or three areas of public spending should be exempt from more austerity, respondents identified the NHS and healthcare (79%), schools (51%), care for the elderly (51%), the police (39%) and social services (21%).

 

Some 49% agreed that the NHS should be given more money "so that it can continue to provide services in the same way it does at the moment", while only 7% backed further rationing of care, in research undertaken by Ipsos MORI. Asked to name the biggest problem facing the NHS, 38% said lack of resources, 27% identified understaffing and 24% mentioned long waiting times.

 

Despite a series of care scandals such as Mid Staffs, Morecambe Bay and Winterbourne View, the NHS remains the thing that makes most people proud to be British. In all 52% identified the NHS as that institution, more than the armed forces (47%), royal family (33%), Team GB (26%) and the BBC (22%). That 52% is 7% up on 2012, when Ipsos MORI last asked that question.

 

But concern about the NHS's future is rising. One in four (24%) said it was one of the most important issues facing the country, a higher figure than in 2012.

 

Some 67% rated the quality of their healthcare as good, with another 17% describing it as very good. But 73% believe that the problems uncovered at Stafford Hospital, scene of the service's biggest scandal in years, exist in some, most or all other hospitals.

 

Britons are also among the most negative internationally about how sustainable their health services are, given the NHS is facing rising demand and further years of tight budgets. In the survey of public opinion in 20 countries only 9% said they expected the quality of healthcare on offer to improve, while in the UK 43% said "get worse".

So now we know how everybody feels about the NHS, we need to make our voice heard.

 

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production) 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com