Incisive Health has launched a new report – The state of health in Europe – based on analysis of public attitudes towards major health issues in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom.
The findings, some of which have already been reported in the Guardian and the Health Service Journal, show that the British have higher levels of pride in our health services than any other countries surveyed. But the pride we have is tempered by pessimism for the future: almost three-quarters of people in the UK fear that our health service will deteriorate. In Poland, and Spain, just half of people are so downbeat.
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of people in the UK feel that too little is spent on the NHS – a figure that is higher than every other major European country. In France, just 39% feel that too little is spent and in Germany the figure is 34%. Of course this finding reflects the reality of funding disparities across Europe. In France and Germany, around 11% of GDP is spent on health services – but in the UK the figure is just 8.5% and is set to fall further over the course of this Parliament.
And despite our pride in the NHS, we are also some of the most dissatisfied people in Europe when it comes to aspects of healthcare – including waiting for a GP appointment. Almost 4 in 10 people in the UK are dissatisfied with the average waiting time to book an appointment with a GP. In both France and Germany, the figure is around 2 in 10. The figures help explain the Prime Minister’s repeated pledges to boost GP access, and provide an important baseline against which to monitor the progress – from the perspective of the public – of the GP Forward View.
On access to treatments, there is appetite for greater international collaboration to reduce the costs of new medicines, with 8 in 10 of British respondents supporting the move. This finding, which will provide a boost to European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis’s call for more joint procurement and a Europe-wide assessment process for new medicines, is nonetheless tempered by an opposed desire to retain national control over decisions on access to treatment. More than two-thirds of respondents in the UK wish to see national control maintained – a figure which is much higher than in France, Spain (both 53%), Germany and Italy (both 50%) and Poland (49%). Only 44% of respondents in the UK support greater collaboration on assessments of effectiveness. By comparison, 88% of respondents in Spain and 79% in Italy support greater collaboration.
On obesity, people in the UK are far more agreeable to a sugar tax than respondents in other countries, with more than 60% of UK respondents expressing support. This contrasts with opinion in Germany, where a majority of people said they would be unlikely to support it. Our polling, which took place after the Budget, will provide welcome reassurance to advocates of the policy announced by the Chancellor.
The report coincides with the expansion of the Incisive Health International health policy and communications consultancy offering. For anyone seeking to understand or influence health policy or practice in one or more European countries, the findings will provide important insights and evidence. Download the Report.