New research reveals a decline in public backing for the NHS’s core principles—universal access, free-at-the-point-of-use care, and tax funding—over the past five years, with the exception of a slight increase among millennials in support for tax-based financing. Experts suggest rising economic difficulties and shifting views on migration may be driving the erosion of support for the system’s long-standing values. The findings highlight growing divisions in public opinion, particularly as financial pressures reshape attitudes toward how essential services should be structured. The study underscores a potential challenge to the NHS’s foundational ethos as societal priorities evolve.
Rise in economic hardship and changes in attitudes towards migration could explain drop in support, experts sayPublic support for the NHS’s founding principles – that it is free to use, available to everyone and tax-funded – has fallen over the last five years, research has shown.Backing for all three pillars dropped between 2021 and 2025 across the UK population, except for a small rise in millennials’ support for the NHS being funded from taxation. Continue reading...
