More frequent NHS users have worse experiences

People with Long Term Conditions, who tend to use the NHS more regularly, have significantly worse experiences of care according to new data from Ipsos and National Voices. 

A nationally representative survey that asked adults in England about their care experiences, based on the four “I Statements” that were used by the Department of Health and Social Care to underpin the development of the NHS 10 Year Plan, found: 

• On the surface people are still reporting broadly positive experiences despite the immense pressures on the NHS in recent years:
  • 86% of people felt safe when using the NHS
  • 85% said they received good quality care

Yet the picture is less positive for those who can be considered more frequent users of health and social care services: 

• 37% of people a long-term condition do not feel supported by the NHS to manage their physical health, compared to 16% with no LTCs 
• Two fifths (40%) of people with a long-term condition (LTC) do not feel supported by the NHS to manage their mental health, compared to 20% with no LTCs .
• People were three times more likely to say they were “not at all” treated with “dignity and respect” by the NHS if they were from an ethnic background (13%), as those from a white ethnic background (4%) 

Even where the NHS is providing good quality care, there were strong messages about the importance of getting the basics right, such as improving the experience of booking appointments.  

For example, almost a fifth (19%) of everyone polled so it was “not at all” easy to access care on the NHS, and 17% said they were “not at all” kept informed while they were waiting for treatment.  

Simple fixes to improve the basic care experience can do a lot to rebuild patient and public trust in an NHS while it undergoes longer-term restructure. 

National Voices worked with Ipsos to develop the survey questions partly in response to a continual decline in the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) on the nation’s views of the NHS. 

In his speech at NHS Confed conference, Sir Jim Mackey, CEO of NHS England, said the BSA results were a “really big shock”.  He added: “There’s a sign in that about our disconnect with the population. That is a really big problem for us all. If we lose or break that materially, we are in really big trouble.” 

These new survey results using the I Statements show that if we focus our data collection on looking at how people experience the care they receive, we can start to dig deeper into how the NHS turns around satisfaction ratings. 

Jacob Lant, Chief Executive of National Voices said: “There are 25 million people living with a Long Term Condition in this country, and this is growing fast. If we cannot create an NHS that allows people to feel supported to look after their own health, we are at risk of presiding over the slow death of the NHS.” 

“At Confed, we heard Sir Jim Mackey say he was ready to “tear up” outdated care models and this attitude must hold true to rethinking how we measure the success of the NHS. The Secretary of State underlined this by talking up the importance of tracking outcomes in the imminent 10 Year Plan, not just looking at activity targets.   

“This survey shows the potential insights that can be gained if the NHS focuses on asking people if the NHS is achieving on things that matter to them. With the 10-year plan likely to emphasise patient voice and choice, we urge the Government to think next about how it listens to patients and acts on what it hears.” 

Notes to editors 

• You can read more about National Voices’ work on improving the way we measure success in the NHS in our new report.
• You can read the HSJ article on this here.
• For the full findings, please visit the Ipsos website.  
• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 984 adults aged 16+ across England. Polling was conducted online between the 30^th of May and 2^nd of June 2025.   
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.