Satisfaction with UK public services sees sharp drop since 2021
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Satisfaction with public services in the UK has collapsed over the past three years, according to a new poll that shows hospitals, train companies and schools are held in significantly lower esteem than a quarter of a century ago.
Education, healthcare and the police service have all suffered a sharp drop in satisfaction levels since 2021, while two-thirds of voters currently describe public services as “underfunded”, a poll by Ipsos for the Financial Times showed.
The poll found that just 32 per cent of patients surveyed were satisfied with their local NHS hospital, compared with 80 per cent of people polled by the group in 1998. Meanwhile, just 40 per cent of patients reported that they are satisfied with their GP, compared with 90 per cent in 1998.
The findings highlight the scale of the challenge facing whichever party wins the UK general election on July 4.
Experts have warned that the next government will have to grapple with the stretched public government finances while also facing investment requirements into essential services.
Ipsos found that satisfaction has dropped particularly sharply since 2021, with police, nursery schools and train companies all experiencing a drop of 20 percentage points or more over the three years. But the sharpest falls were in satisfaction for GPs, which fell 30 percentage points, and for NHS hospitals, which fell 39 percentage points.
The NHS numbers reflect growing frustration with the health service, with patients waiting for almost 7.54mn routine hospital appointments at the end of March. The figure remains well above the 7.21mn treatments that were outstanding in January 2023, when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made falling waiting lists one of his five pre-election promises to voters.
The poll, which surveyed 5,875 interviewees, found dissatisfaction outweighed satisfaction with public services across every region of the UK, with the largest gap in the North of England compared with the South.
Road maintenance was reported to be the lowest-rated of all public services, with 82 per cent of respondents saying they were dissatisfied, reflecting motorists and cyclists’ increasing anger at the financial costs and danger posed by potholes.
Meanwhile satisfaction with primary school services among parents stood at 58 per cent, compared with 88 per cent in 1998. Secondary school satisfaction dropped from 82 per cent 26 years ago, to 44 per cent.
The findings also show a comparable drop since 2002, when Ipsos adopted a new methodology.
The results come after the IMF last month warned of a £30bn gap in the UK’s public finances, because current plans underestimated how much public spending would occur in the years to come.
The IMF also said the overall public spending plans laid out by the two parties were too low given the demands on public services.
Ipsos found a total of 68 per cent of the public described public services as underfunded. However, while 57 per cent of Conservative voters attributed the decline in services to poor management, Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters put the blame on the UK government policymaking, at 67 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
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