The British Social Attitudes survey results for 2022 reveal the level of public satisfaction with the NHS and social care.
Conducted by NatCen, the survey is regarded as a gold-standard measure. The Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund have collaborated to publish the findings. According to the survey, public satisfaction with the health service has reached its lowest point in the survey's 40-year history.
Some Key results of the survey are as follows
Overall satisfaction with the NHS declined to 29% in 2022, the lowest recorded since the survey began in 1983.
Over half of the respondents (51%) expressed dissatisfaction with the NHS.
The decrease in satisfaction was observed across all age groups, income levels, genders, and political affiliations.
Key results for social care
Satisfaction with social care services was even lower, with only 14% of respondents indicating satisfaction. Dissatisfaction with social care increased to 57%, with the main reasons being that people don't receive all the social care they need. Other reasons for dissatisfaction are: (64%), inadequate pay, working conditions, and training for social care workers (57%), and insufficient support for unpaid carers (49%).
Dissatisfaction with social care was high across all age groups, income levels, genders, and political affiliations, with older adults, higher-income earners, and white individuals expressing the most dissatisfaction.
Something’s gotta give
The social care system isn’t working - collectively, how can we make things better? We could start by:
Changing the way we talk about care work - Share positive stories about our workforce to make caring a job that is respected and revered.
Making it easier for unpaid carers to receive financial and practical support - Many people who care for loved ones aren’t aware of the support that exists already.
Push for paid carers to receive the appropriate pay for the great work that they do - The rise of private carers is slowly pushing up the pay rates in the private sector. Local councils need to recognise the rise and increase their pay rates accordingly.
Improving the discharge wait for people in hospital waiting for social care - We can do this by making the search for care easier. Read Five reasons why we need to reimagine how we source care.
What ideas do you have to make things better?