Support for NHS ‘rock solid’ but service in critical condition, think tanks warn

Public support for the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary is “rock solid”, but the service will not be around to celebrate its 100th anniversary without investment, leading health think tanks have warned.

The King’s Fund, the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust said the NHS is the “jewel in the country’s crown” but the organisations warned that the service faces “huge challenges”.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties – Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey, the organisations said the NHS has “endured a decade of underinvestment” and criticised politicians for an “addiction to short-termism and eye-catching initiatives” which will not help the service in the long run.

“Unachievable and unrealistic” fast improvements without long-term planning will “doom the service to failure”, they said.

Without action the service will face “managed decline that gradually erodes the guarantee of safety… it was designed to create”.

The think tanks also called for investment in the service, reform in the social care sector and action to address the “fraying health of the UK population”.

The letter states: “Seventy-five years after its creation, the National Health Service is in critical condition.

“Pressures on services are extreme and public satisfaction is at its lowest since it first began to be tracked 40 years ago.

“Despite this, public support for the NHS as an institution is rock solid – it still tops surveys about what makes people most proud to be British, and the public are unwavering in their support for its founding principles: free at the point of use, comprehensive and available to all.”

The letter adds: “We urge you to make the next election a decisive break point by ending years of short-termism in NHS policy-making… promising unachievable, unrealistically fast improvements without a long-term plan to address the underlying causes of the current crisis is a strategy doomed to failure.”

The authors, Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the Health Foundation, Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, and Richard Murray, chief executive of The King’s Fund, conclude: “For the public, the NHS remains the jewel in the country’s crown, even if it is losing its shine.

“The next government will face a choice between providing the investment and reform needed to preserve the NHS for future generations or continuing with short-termism and managed decline that gradually erodes the guarantee of safety in place of fear it was designed to create.

“Persisting with the current addiction to short-termism and eye-catching initiatives will risk the health service being unable to adapt to the huge challenges ahead and reach its centenary.

“It is time to move away from quick fixes and over-promising what the NHS can deliver and give it the tools it needs to succeed.”

In a statement released to mark the 75th anniversary, Sir Ed said: “I am fiercely proud that it remains one of the most iconic services we have in the UK free to everyone.

“The best birthday gift of all would be to put the NHS back on a stable footing, by increasing the number of available GP appointments, ending the long waits for ambulances, and closing the growing divide between those that can access dental care and those who can’t.”