Biggest ever drop in NHS satisfaction seen in 2011

Public satisfaction with the NHS experienced its largest ever decline between 2010 and 2011, according to a new survey.

The King's Fund has published its latest British Social Attitudes Survey, revealing that contentment with the way the health service is run fell from 70 percent to 58 percent over the 12 months.

Given that the NHS continued to perform well according to key indicators and patient experience surveys during this period, it is more likely that political issues are behind this fall, rather than a decline in service quality.

Specifically, the report links the drop to concerns over government health reforms and the accompanying ministerial rhetoric justifying them, as well as awareness of NHS funding pressures.

John Appleby, chief economist at The King's Fund, said: "The run of year-on-year increases in NHS satisfaction had to come to an end at some stage … Nevertheless, it is something of a shock that it has fallen so significantly."

Last month, a separate report from the organisation showed that NHS accident and emergency department waiting times hit an eight-year high over the last year.