A scathing survey has revealed that less than two-thirds of NHS staff in England believe the health service’s care is satisfying.
Fewer than 63% of the 636,000 workers polled said they would be satisfied with the standard of care provided by their organisation if a friend or relative needed treatment.
This was down from 67.8 percent in 2021 and 74.2 percent in the first year of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The findings came as no surprise to experts, who warned that working in a ‘environment of constant and unrelenting pressure’ had ‘taken its toll’.
Last year, the ‘broken’ NHS faced a slew of issues, including spiralling Covid backlogs for routine care, unprecedented ambulance wait times, and the largest ever staff walkouts in the health service’s 75-year history.
According to the annual survey, the proportion of ambulance staff who agreed that the level of care provided was satisfactory fell the most.
The survey findings come as NHS data released today shows that the number of people in England waiting for routine hospital treatment has reached a new high, and for the first time, nearly half of cancer patients did not begin treatment within two months of an urgent GP referral.
Experts also warn staff are exhausted and face even more work in the post-Covid era.
Workplace stress and rising rates of discrimination against staff were all raised during the annual survey.