News / Public support tax rises to fund health service

31 May 2017 Seamus Ward

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A majority of the public believe that the
NHS should be protected from budget cuts and tax should be increased to raise extra funds for the service, according to a Health Foundation poll.

News_Ruth Thorlby

Almost 2,000 people aged over 15 from across Great Britain took part in the Ipsos Mori poll. They were asked if, in the face of rising healthcare costs, they would support raising taxes, reducing spending on other services to fund the NHS, or cutting the level of services provided by the NHS. 

Almost two-thirds (64%) chose higher taxes, while 9% backed cutting NHS services. Nearly nine in 10 respondents (88%) told the pollsters that health service funding should be protected. However, half of respondents believed the NHS often wastes money. 

There was also concern over the quality of health and social care services, with 44% of people feeling NHS care had declined in the past year and 48% believing it would get worse over the coming year. Half of respondents said social care quality would decline in the next year.

There was support for ending the pay cap – a Lib Dem and Labour manifesto pledge – that has limited overall annual pay rises in the NHS to 1%. Around three-quarters of respondents said the ceiling should be higher.

Ruth Thorlby (above right), Health Foundation assistant policy director, said that, after seven years of austerity, to maintain services the incoming government would have to provide additional funding for health and social care.

‘The impact of this austerity – overloaded A&E departments, delays in getting people out of hospital, and longer waiting times for surgery – has been covered widely in the media, and has got through to the public,’ she said. ‘It is striking that such a significant majority say they are willing to see taxes rise, rather than reduce levels of service or see more cuts to other public services.

‘This is not a blank cheque of goodwill though. Half of respondents to this poll also believe there is waste in the NHS, reinforcing the need for NHS services to continue with efforts to be more efficient regardless of any funding settlement, by reducing the use of agency staff for example, or using the best value drugs and equipment.’