Public 'fear for NHS'

Many NHS users rate the service highly

A majority of the public has no confidence that the government will improve the quality of the NHS, a poll commissioned by the BBC suggests.

BMRB International conducted interviews with 1,039 people during September.

The results showed that almost six out of ten people questioned think that Labour has made no difference to the NHS since it came to power in 1997, and 16% think the party has made things worse. Only two in 10 think they have improved things.

Nearly two-thirds of those interviewed (62%) were not confident that the government would improve the NHS in the coming four years, compared with 36% who were.

The research also found that 27% believed the standard of NHS care is getting worse, compared with just 16% who believed it is getting better.

Users

However, two thirds (69%) of people questioned who had used the NHS in the last 12 months said the service was good - with 38% of those rating it as very good.

Among those users aged 65 plus the approval rating was 92%.

In every age group, the perception of the NHS improved with experience of it.

These results suggest that publicity over the performance of the NHS in recent years has lead to more negative perceptions of it.

However, once people have had first hand experience of the NHS, they rate it more highly.

Whatever their perception of the performance of the NHS, almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) said they were confident that they would be well looked after if they needed hospital treatment.

Private sector

However, there was a high level of support for the involvement of the private sector in providing clinical services.

Two-thirds of those interviewed supported the idea, which has been touted by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The concept of the private sector managing NHS hospitals was also supported by 51% of respondents.

There was more support for raising funds for the NHS by levying charges for specific services for patients who can afford it (61%) than for tax increases (46%).

However, individuals were less willing to pay fees when asked specifically about themselves.

The 16-24 age group was most positive about the involvement of the private sector in the NHS, but also most committed to the idea that the health service should be state run and largely free to patients.

And while younger people were least positive about the state of the NHS, they were also most likely to say that the health service in its current form will still be around in 10 years' time.