According to a survey, less than a third of English people are satisfied with their public health system.

Only 28 percent of respondents think the National Health Service is performing well nationwide – a drop of 6 percent since November. And more than half (52 percent) believe its performance will worsen next year, the results of the Health Foundation survey show.

Britain’s long-overstretched NHS is struggling to meet the demand of an ageing and increasingly sick population. Surgical backlogs are high and waiting times for treatment are long – a situation caused by underfunding and staff shortages, but exacerbated by the pandemic and ongoing industrial action.

Concerns about primary care are growing, with more than three-quarters of survey respondents worried about the pressure facing GPs following their recent announcement that they would take part in ‘collective action’ over a national contract.

While this does not mean general strikes, it does mean smaller-scale actions that still have a significant impact on the health service. For example, GP practices could limit the number of patients they see each day to 25 – already a high number, but far below the number most see in practice, according to the Nuffield Trust think tank.

Poor performance in any area of ​​healthcare is a serious problem for the public. Most people use the NHS for most – if not all – of their healthcare needs. Most of its services are free and do not require insurance.

The Health Foundation’s findings are consistent with those of other recent surveys. In March, an analysis of the UK’s Social Attitudes Survey found that public satisfaction with the health service is at an all-time low.

The full results of this latest survey of 2,136 British adults will be published on Monday.

“Public satisfaction with the NHS was at a record low before the election and the new government will have its work cut out to change that,” said Tim Gardner, deputy director of policy at the Health Foundation. “People want action to be taken to retain NHS staff, improve access to GPs and attract more people to the health service.”

Striking doctors are currently reviewing a collective agreement quickly presented by the country’s new Labour government – a move Gardner praised.

But “the challenges facing the NHS are significant. There are no quick fixes,” he added. “But the NHS can recover with the right mix of policy change, innovation and investment.”

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of hospital industry group NHS Providers, described the survey results as “deeply worrying”.

“NHS Trust leaders are committed to restoring services and delivering high quality care,” she said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of teams on the front line, every effort is being made to reduce waiting lists and ensure people get the care they need as quickly as possible.”

However, hospital management knows there is still a long way to go, she added.

Rory Deighton, head of the NHS Confederation’s acute network, stressed that it was important not to forget “that thousands of people receive high-quality care from the NHS every day and that staff continue to provide high-quality care even in the most difficult circumstances.”

Still, “the NHS needs the right investments” to address its performance problems. “This includes longer-term funding arrangements to allow leaders to plan for the future and a move away from short-term thinking,” he added in a statement.