Young people less satisfied with the NHS - survey

Only one-in-five people under 35 say they are satisfied with the NHS compared with more than a third of people aged 65 and over, an analysis of the annual British social attitudes survey shows.

Satisfaction has risen for the first time since before the Covid pandemic, but experts say the improvements are "fragile" and there is still a lot more work to be done.

It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced he would place the worst performing NHS trusts in England in an "intensive recovery" programme.

These include North Cumbria integrated care trust, Mid and South Essex trust, Hull university teaching hospitals trust, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole trust and East Kent hospitals trust.

The 2025 survey of 3,400 people in England, Scotland and Wales, was carried out between August and October 2025.

Bea Taylor, at the think-tank, the Nuffield Trust, said: "The boost in satisfaction with the NHS has not been felt equally across age groups.

"A stark generational divide remains, with older people still most likely to be optimistic about the health service.

"The government and NHS leaders should pay particular attention to figuring out what could improve younger people's perceptions of the service given this is now a longstanding trend."

The Health Secretary in England said the NHS was on the road to recovery, but there was "a lot of road ahead".

"The biggest drop in dissatisfaction since 1998 doesn't happen by accident.

"It is thanks to the government's investment and modernisation - all of which has been hard fought but is now delivering results.

"Waiting lists are the lowest they've been in three years, more patients in A&E are seen within four hours than for four years, and ambulance response times are the fastest for five years," Streeting said.

The survey was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research.