Should the NHS become more of a lifestyle coach to tackle unhealthy living?

News - 25 October 2018

Most people are confident that the NHS can meet their needs. But, when it comes to the NHS at 100 confidence falls by half. We explore recent polling that indicates people think they should be responsible for staying healthy but want the NHS to help.
Man smiling

“What’s clear from this polling is that most people believe it's up to us to stay healthy but want the NHS to support us in doing that.

Neil Tester, Deputy Director at Healthwatch England

Exploring the numbers   

People's confidence now and in the future

We asked over 2000 UK adults about their confidence in the ability of services to meet their needs today and in 20-30 years' time.

Positively, 61% of respondents are confident that NHS and social care services are currently able to meet their immediate needs. However, when we asked people if they are confident NHS and social care services will able to meet the needs they are likely to have in the future, only 30% agreed.

We also asked people about their confidence in the NHS and social care services in meeting the needs of their friends and family. 62% were confident that services could currently meet these needs, falling to 27% when we asked people agree if they were confident in the ability of services to meet the needs of their friends and family in 20-30 years time.

I am confident that the NHS and social care services are currently able to meet any needs I might or already have.

Top five factors people think will have the biggest impact on the future health of the nation

  1. People's diets
  2. The level of exercise in people's daily lives
  3. Air pollution, global warming and climate change
  4. Social isolation and loneliness
  5. The financial outlook for the country

Who should be responsible for our health?

We also asked people to think about who should be responsible for ensuring that people are healthy, asking people to rank each option from the most responsible to the least responsible.

  • 71% of people we asked said that they think the individual should be the most responsible for ensuring that they are healthy, with the NHS being deemed the second most responsible.
  • The organisations people think should be the least responsible for people’s health are charities, followed by media.

Download

To find out more detail about our polling results download them in full.

If you need this report in a different format, please email enquiries@healthwatch.co.uk or call 03000 68 3000.

 

Download (PDF 483 KB)

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