Voters again proposal to ban NHS trusts utilizing costly company workers for canopy
Over half of voters back Labour’s proposals to ban some expensive agency staff to cover NHS staffing, a new survey shows today.
The Health Secretary Wes Streeting has recently set out plans to reduce health service spending on agency staff – estimated to cost the NHS a staggering £3billion-a-year. The poll shared with The Mirror by Survation shows 53% of voters back the idea – compared to just 15% against.
The survey – commissioned by the campaigning group 38 Degrees – also finds 49% of the public support controversial proposals to rank NHS Trusts on performance. Under the plans hospital trusts will be placed into a league table – effectively naming and shaming the worst performing ones. Just 14% of voters are opposed.
But the polls also finds the Health Secretary has work to do to convince the public the government can cut the record wait lists inflicting misery on patients. While 31% said they were confident he has a plan to bring waiting lists under control, more than half (57%) said they were not confident.
Critics have also warned the ban on temporary staff is “short sighted” and won’t tackle deep-rooted workforce shortages.
Matthew McGregor, the CEO of 38 Degrees, said: “Wes Streeting may see his reforms as a necessary stick to the Budget ’s welcome funding carrot for the NHS. But these results show that the proof is in the pudding, and for now they’ve received a mixed public reception in terms of the difference that voters believe they will make in fixing the crisis in our NHS.”
He added: “despite the change in government, millions of people are still stuck, suffering in pain and facing anxiety as they struggle to access NHS treatment and languish on waiting lists. This polling shows that voters are understandably impatient, and that the change so desperately needed in our NHS can’t come quickly enough.
“Voters were clear at the election, and since, that fixing the crisis in the NHS must be a priority, and they see it as the job first and foremost of the Health Secretary and Government.
“Ultimately, this research shows that ministers can’t stop here. They can go further and faster in fixing our broken NHS if they have the confidence to raise billions from implementing a tiny tax on the ultra-rich.”
Previous research by the organisation found a wealth tax on Britain’s super-rich could fund tens of thousands more NHS staff and millions of extra appointments.
Savanta interviewed 2,288 UK adults aged 18+ online on 15th to 17th November 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK.
