Around 26% of British adults were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with the running of the NHS in 2025, in the latest survey from The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust, published with the National Centre for Social Research.
In 2019, 60% of respondents were satisfied with the NHS, but this has fallen year-on-year since. 2025’s 26% is the first to buck this the trend, exhibiting a rise from 21% of people being satisfied with the NHS in 2024.
The constant fall in satisfaction is of little surprise considering the strains placed upon NHS services throughout and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, hospital wards being overwhelmed with patients has become a norm rather than an exception.
Just as the number of satisfied Brits rose in 2025, the number of people who were dissatisfied fell a notable amount, from 59% to 51%. This is the largest fall in dissatisfaction for more than a quarter of a century.
One glance at the graph showing the trends of overall satisfaction paints a clear picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic shifted public opinions. Prior to 2019, the last time that more people were unhappy with the NHS was 2002. The largest disparity came in 2010, when just 18% of British adults expressed dissatisfaction compared to 70% being ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied overall.
Hope is, however, in short supply. Only 16% of those surveyed thought that NHS care will improve in the next 5 years. 53% anticipate care getting worse.
The challenges facing NHS care have been well publicised. The number of people visiting A&E between November and February reached a historic high of 9,110,591, according to NHS England, and ambulance call outs over the winter period were the highest on record.
The NHS waiting list for consultant-led elective care, which reached its ceiling in September 2023, is still high; January 2026’s figure is more than double that of the decade prior according to analysis by the British Medical Association. However, this is in decline and, despite the record breaking winter, the waiting lists are at their lowest for almost 3 years, per NHS England.
Strike action by medical professionals is increasingly common, with doctors’ strikes costing NHS hospitals more than £3 billion over the last three years, according to the Government, who concurred with an estimate in the Times.
The 15th round of strikes since March 2023 is down to problems including pay not moving in line with inflation, expenses including exam fees, and the request for extra training places for doctors. Talks between the BMA and the Government broke down recently after months of extended negotiations.
Public perception of resident doctors going on strike has fallen over time, with 49% of British adults opposing the move in December 2025 compared to 26% in support, according the findings by Ipsos. The public was generally sympathetic of strike action up until February 2025.
How the NHS changes in the coming years will no doubt require buy-in from the medical community and the Government – but success can only be judged by the communities it aims to serve.
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