Three in four people in the UK fear getting stuck on a trolley in a hospital corridor or an ambulance not arriving after dialling 999, prompting claims that the NHS is facing “a crisis of public trust”.
Huge numbers also worry about their local A&E not having enough beds (77%) and not being able to get care at their GP surgery (70%), research also found.
Public concern about the parlous state of the health service is so acute that one in three people (34%) are reluctant to seek help at A&E because they think it will be overwhelmed.
Even greater numbers – 43% – are so concerned about slow 999 response times that they would be likely to take a taxi to hospital rather than wait for an ambulance.
The results, in a survey by the polling company Ipsos, are “worrying and frightening in equal measure”, said Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
“Much as [the NHS] is appreciated, research like this shows that people are losing their trust and faith in the system to be able to look after them when they need it most. People [are] admitting that they would not seek emergency help because they are too afraid of ending up on a trolley in a corridor in an overcrowded A&E.”
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “These findings reveal a shocking level of public fear about accessing urgent and emergency care.
“Patients experiencing a health emergency should never have to think twice about calling an ambulance or going to A&E, yet many now feel they have no choice but to delay seeking help or attempt alternative travel options.
“This is not just a crisis of NHS capacity; it’s a crisis of public trust,” Power added. Ipsos interviewed a representative 1,087 adults online between 3 and 5 February.
The NHS has been struggling for years to meet its waiting time targets for A&E care, routine hospital treatment and ambulances to respond to 999 calls. In addition, people needing mental health support often face a long wait while large numbers cannot get NHS dental care.
“Corridor care” in A&Es has become so common that patients have died there but gone undiscovered, with others “routinely coming to harm”, because overwhelmed staff cannot keep up with the intense demand for care, the Royal College of Nursing disclosed last month.
The findings come weeks after an inquest heard that 91-year-old Dorothy Reid died after refusing to seek help at A&E after being forced to spend the night on a chair there on a previous visit, despite having a broken back.
She had been left “in discomfort for hours” on her visit last March to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate, Kent. When she suffered a fall soon after, she refused to go back, despite being advised to do so. Reid died of a blood clot.
Catherine Wood, the coroner for North East Kent who heard the inquest, said that Reid might not have died if she had attended and been treated at A&E a second time as recommended.
Dr Nick Murch, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “There is a growing concern among clinicians about people feeling sick at home but not coming to hospital as they are concerned about long waits to be seen, or possibly corridor care, and as a result coming to harm due to delayed – or even non-attendance – with urgent problems.”
Prof Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said “public anger is palpable” about the NHS’s ability to provide speedy, high-quality care. Frustration with delays means “nurses bear the brunt of it with verbal and even physical abuse.
“People are alarmed at the state of the NHS. Members of the public are worried about turning up at A&E when they may be most in need of care, genuinely frightened about the standard of care they might receive.”
The government’s forthcoming ten-year NHS plan “must restore public confidence”, she added.
Ipsos’s research also found that 81% said the state of the NHS makes them sad while 71% said it makes them angry. Fewer than half (47%) think the NHS offers taxpayers good value for money but 58% believe it provides a high standard of care.
Asked what they think of most when they think of the NHS, “long waiting times” was cited by the largest number of people – 57%. Other responses included “understaffed” (51%), “delays” (27%) and “high quality of care” (22%).
NHS England did not respond directly to the findings. A spokesperson said the service “has been under significant pressure, particularly so over the last few months, with staff experiencing one of the more challenging winter periods on record”.
People who need care should always seek it, from their GP, the NHS 111 telephone service or by dialling 999 or attending A&E if it is a life-threatening emergency, they added.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “People are right to be angry. Patients are being let down and taxpayers’ money is being wasted. The NHS is broken but it’s not beaten.”
