1 in 10 Say They Have Been Harmed by the NHS, Survey Finds

Another survey has also found that there has been a ’startling collapse' in satisfaction with the NHS since 2019, plummeting by 39 percentage points.

A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London, on Jan. 18, 2023. Jeff Moore/PA Wire

One in 10 people say they have been harmed by the NHS, according to a study published in the BMJ Quality & Safety Journal.

Researchers surveyed over 10,000 people across England, Wales, and Scotland between 2021 and 2022 and found that 988 of them (9.7 percent) had reported experiencing physical or emotional harm caused by the health service in the previous three years.

According to researchers at the University of Oxford’s Population Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), 6.2 percent said they experienced harm owing to care they had received.

The remaining 3.5 percent blamed the harm on having a lack of access to treatment.

The study, published on Tuesday, found that just 17 percent of people chose to take formal action by making a complaint, with an even smaller proportion (2.1 percent) taking legal action.

Higher Rate

The reported harm rate exceeds that of previous surveys in 2001 (4.8 percent) and 2023 (2.5 percent). However, researchers suggest this increase may be down to a broader definition of “harm” that now includes mental distress and harm caused by lack of access to health care, alongside physical harm.

Researchers found that more women had reported harm than men, with there being higher rates among the unemployed and those with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Men were also found to be less likely to share their experiences, along with older people and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Older people were also less likely to make a formal complaint.

Some Way to Go

Helen Hogan, associate professor at the LSHTM, said: “These findings indicate that healthcare harm affects a considerable number of members of the general public.

“Our study is the first to put a number on the harm that results from people having to wait for treatment as well as the scale of harm caused by the care itself. It shows that there is still some way to go to improve safety across the NHS.”

Hogan continued that while the vast majority of NHS staff prioritise patients’ needs, there are pressures within the system—such as a lack of time or staff—which can affect the quality of care they can deliver.

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray responded to the report by telling reporters that patient safety is paramount and that NHS boards must be open about mistakes and learn from them.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said that they are simplifying the complaints process to ensure thorough investigations and continuous improvement in health care.

An NHS England spokesperson added that the health service was making “significant progress in strengthening patient safety – including a nationwide programme of training and education – and we recognise there is still more to do to improve care for patients by providing better access to services and reducing health inequalities.”

‘Startling Collapse’ in Public Satisfaction

The public is reporting not only increased harm but also growing dissatisfaction with the NHS.

On Wednesday, the Nuffield Trust described the “startling collapse” in satisfaction, which plummeted by 39 percentage points since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The British Attitudes Survey (BSA) study into satisfaction with the taxpayer-funded health service found that in 2024, 59 percent of people are “quite” or “very” dissatisfied with the NHS, which is up from 53 percent on the year before and at its highest rate on record.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting delivering a keynote speech on the second day of the 2024 NHS Providers conference and exhibition, at the ACC in Liverpool, England, on Nov. 13, 2024. Peter Byrne/PA Wire

The analysis, published by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund, found that only one-fifth (21 percent) of respondents were happy with the NHS, down from 24 percent on the year before and at its lowest level since this survey first polled Britons on the matter in 1983.

The part of the service which people expressed most dissatisfaction with was A&E, with 52 percent dissatisfied, rising from 37 percent in 2023. Satisfaction with GP services has also fallen, dropping from 34 percent in 2023 to 31 percent last year.

Broken NHS

“We inherited a broken NHS and this survey shows patients agree,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told reporters in response to the BSA poll, citing long waiting lists, the rise of corridor care, and Britons struggling to see their GPs.

He said: “Thanks to the necessary decisions we took in the Budget, we’ve invested a record £26 billion over two years, ended the crippling strikes, cut waiting lists for five months in a row and delivered 2 million extra appointments seven months early.

“There’s a long way to go but we are fixing our NHS to make it fit for the future.”

In January, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) unveiled plans to create 2 million extra medical appointments next year, in a bid to bring down high NHS waiting lists.

The DHSC said up to half a million more appointments are expected to be created in total every year by expanding the use of Community Diagnostic Centres, which will be open seven days a week, 12 hours a day, so that patients can access tests and health checks closer to home and at times more convenient to them.