Political fight over the NHS playing out against Labour's expectations

A British Social Attitudes survey, carried out for The King’s Fund, has recorded the second highest satisfaction levels ever with the NHS and the lowest ever dissatisfaction levels.

The results, compiled by NatCen Social Research, found that the public are far less content with social care services, however, with only 31 per cent of respondents claiming to be satisfied, compared to 65 per cent for the NHS. While GP services and dentists were recorded at an all time low, in relation to previous studies, at 71 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

John Appleby, chief economist at The King’s Fund, comments: “With the NHS a leading issue ahead of the general election, the British Social Attitudes survey provides a useful snapshot of how the public views the NHS. Public satisfaction with the NHS is high and has risen significantly, despite a year in which the service hit the headlines for financial pressures and difficulties with A&E waiting times. But as well as an actual increase in satisfaction, this may in part reflect a desire among the public to show support for the NHS as an institution.”

These results have led to further criticism of the Labour party’s general election campaign, however, which has already caused controversy since leader Ed Miliband was alleged to say to a BBC journalist that he intended to ‘weaponise the NHS’ as a key tactic in their attempts to woo voters.

Held up against statistics that show the lowest ever dissatisfaction levels, the party are being challenged to explain how the Coalition government can have performed worse on the NHS than during their own time in power. While former party members have added to the pressure on the Labour leader by criticising the early days of their campaign.

Among these are former health secretary Alan Milburn, who has suggested Miliband is too scared to campaign away from Labour’s ‘comfort zone’.

Prior to these events, the NHS has been seen by most political commentators as a problem for the Coalition, especially since David Cameron promised there would be ‘no top-down organisation’ before coming to power then proceeding with unpopular reforms. However, with the King’s Fund survey suggesting nothing in the way of negative impact on public satisfaction with services, the question of credibility on the NHS no longer appears that simple.