Survey reveals one in four Britons ‘not confident NHS can care for them’

New research into the public’s attitude to the health service has revealed that 25 per cent of Britons do not believe the NHS can care for them properly.

 

When asked “How confident are you, if at all, in the NHS’s ability to give you the care you need?”, a quarter said they were not confident.

 

While only 15 per cent of those surveyed thought the NHS was not coping well with treating coronavirus patients, 41 per cent believed that it was not coping well with providing other services.

 

Experts said that Covid’s disruption to routine NHS services, long delays for GP appointments and operations and longstanding staff shortages were likely to blame for the widespread lack of confidence in the health service’s ability to provide effective and timely medical treatment.

 

Sally Warren, director of policy at health thinktank the King’s Fund, said that the pandemic had added to the pressure already being delt in the NHS and forced it to prioritise who received care.

 

Ms Warren said “The impact of this reprioritisation has been clear for all to see through regular reports of NHS services struggling to cope.  Once again, this is at the forefront of many people’s minds as the Omicron variant brings back the threat of services being overwhelmed.

 

“But it’s not just media reports that change people’s perceptions of the health service, any many people have personal experience of struggling to access their GP or being stuck on a hospital waiting list.”

 

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events.  Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

 

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

 

Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

 

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