Fix workforce crisis and fund health service properly – public send clear message to government to back the NHS

The Health Foundation commissioned Ipsos to poll 2,068 UK adults, with fieldwork carried out between 26 May and 1 June 2022, as part of its bi-annual survey.  

Other key findings:

• The public’s top priorities for the NHS are improving waiting times for routine services (38%), addressing the pressure on or workload of NHS staff (36%) and increasing the number of staff in the NHS (36%).
• A large majority back a mix of measures to fix NHS staffing issues, even if they mean extra public spending. This includes expanding ways for people to join the NHS workforce (90% support), expanding spaces at medical and nursing schools (87%), improving current working conditions for NHS workers (83%), more support to students for the cost of medical training (82%) and increasing pay for NHS workers (77%). 
• The public is also pessimistic about social care, although less so than in November 2021. The majority (56%) think standards have deteriorated over the past 12 months. Looking ahead, 43% think standards will deteriorate further. Only 15% of the public thinks social care services in their local area are good, while 31% disagree.  
• 52% of the public support the Health and Social Care Levy – a 1.25 percentage point increase in national insurance contributions to help fund the NHS and social care – while only 23% oppose it. The strongest support (68%) for the levy is found among Conservative voters.
• The public is deeply concerned about the impacts of rising costs of living on the nation’s health. 57% think rising living costs are a high or very high threat to the health of UK citizens. 72% believe overall health and wellbeing has declined in the past 12 months. However, they are less concerned about the threat of increases to the cost of living to their own personal health (22% think they pose a high or very high threat to their health).  

A minority believe the government is effectively addressing the leading risk factors for ill health. Just under half (46%) think the government is effectively reducing harm from smoking, while fewer than 1 in 5 people believe the government is working effectively to improve physical activity (19%), improve diets (17%), reduce alcohol-related harm (16%) and reduce obesity (14%).

Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said: 

'The new prime minister inherits a health system under unbearable strain – and very few people think their government has the right policies in place for the NHS or social care. 

'Pressures on the NHS in England are sometimes used to fuel a narrative that the health system needs fundamental ‘reform’. But the public have strong support for the basic principles of the NHS and think we must do everything we can to maintain it. They want a health service with enough staff to deliver the care they need, not a fundamentally different kind of health system. And they back additional investment to make that happen. 

'The public point to clear priorities for the NHS, including expanding and supporting the workforce. The public are right, and the new government should listen to them. Staffing shortages are affecting what the health system can deliver and are an existential threat to the NHS’s future, yet somehow government has not grasped the scale of the problem. A long-term workforce plan backed by sufficient investment is needed. If government does not act quickly, it risks losing touch with the reality facing the NHS and the public it serves.'

Notes to editors

The findings are based on the second wave of a programme of polling commissioned by the Health Foundation and delivered by Ipsos. The survey was conducted between 26 May and 1 June 2022, with a total of 2,068 responses from people aged 16+ across the UK, via the Ipsos UK KnowledgePanel, a random probability online panel. The sample was stratified by nation and education and delivered a response rate of 57%. A weighting spec was applied to the data in line with the target sample profile; this included one which corrected for unequal probabilities of selection of household members (to account for two members who may have been selected from one household), and weights for region, an interlocked variable of Gender by Age, Education, Ethnicity, Index of Multiple Deprivation (quintiles), and number of adults in the household.

Media contact

Creina Lilburne
creina.lilburne@health.org.uk