More than two in five people do not believe the NHS will be “there for them” in ten years’ time, while just a third think the health service will exist in 20 years.
Results of a survey of over 2,000 people, point to a major lack of confidence in the ability of the NHS to provide good quality healthcare in the future.
The survey, carried out for Benenden Healthcare Society, shows that half of those questioned also believe that present Government’s policies will weaken the NHS over the next couple of years. Only one in ten (11%) believe the recent government reforms will strengthen the positioning of the NHS in the future.
The survey results mirror some of the findings from another piece of research published in recent days. That study, for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, suggested that tough decisions will have to be made about what services should be free at the point of use in the years to come. Those concerns were echoed last week at the annual conference of the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries.
The research results show that while 89% of people believe that the NHS would be there to provide good quality healthcare in the case of an acute emergency such as a road accident or a heart attack, public confidence falls for longer-term chronic conditions, including those associated with an ageing society. Around a half (48%) of those polled believed that the NHS would provide good quality healthcare services in the case of a chronic condition such as a stress or back pain.
Ken Hesketh, chief executive of Benenden Healthcare Society, said that while people still feel confident in the service provision the NHS offers today, the research findings show that the public have “genuine concerns” over the future of the NHS and its ability to provide for them in the years ahead.
He added: “The public are clearly concerned about what lies further down the road when it comes to healthcare reassurance. What these findings ultimately show is that there is a real need for further consideration and debate around the future of healthcare provision and how improvements in standards can be financed going forward.”
However, respondents believe that only 13% of healthcare spending should be spent on private healthcare. In 10 years’ time, though, this would likely increase to 30%, respondents said.