The influence of waiting times and sociopolitical variables on public trust in healthcare: A cross-sectional study of the NHS in England

Dorussen, H., Hansen, M. E., Pickering, S. D., Reifler, J., Scotto, T.J. , Sunahara, Y. and Yen, D. (2024) The influence of waiting times and sociopolitical variables on public trust in healthcare: A cross-sectional study of the NHS in England. Public Health in Practice, 7, 100484. (doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100484)

Abstract

Objectives This study aims to assess factors influencing public trust in the National Health Service (NHS) in England, focusing on the impact of waiting times in Accident and Emergency (A and E) departments and for GP-to-specialist cancer referrals. Study design A cross-sectional survey-based research design was employed, covering the period from July 2022 to July 2023. Methods Data were collected through YouGov surveys, yielding 7415 responses. Our analysis is based on 6952 of these responses which we were able to aggregate to 42 NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) for A and E waiting times and 106 ICB sub-units for cancer referral times. Multiple regression analysis was conducted, with the dependent variable being trust in the NHS. Results Waiting times for A and E and cancer referrals did not significantly affect trust in the NHS. However, other sociopolitical factors displayed significant influence. Specifically, being a member of an ethnic minority group, or having voted Conservative in the 2019 general election were associated with lower trust scores. Other variables such as age and local unemployment rate were also significant predictors. Conclusions Our findings suggest that waiting times for healthcare services have no effect on public trust in the NHS. Instead, trust appears to be largely shaped by sociopolitical factors. Policymakers should therefore look beyond operational efficiency when seeking to bolster trust in the healthcare system.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was funded by a joint award from the UKRI/ESRC (Grant reference ES/W011913/1) and the JSPS (Grant reference JPJSJRP20211704).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Scotto, Professor Thomas
• Authors: Dorussen, H., Hansen, M. E., Pickering, S. D., Reifler, J., Scotto, T.J., Sunahara, Y., and Yen, D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Public Health in Practice
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2666-5352
• ISSN (Online): 2666-5352
• Published Online: 18 March 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Public Health in Practice 7: 100484
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence
• Data DOI: 10.7910/DVN/AQYYNK

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
315475		COVID-19: Explaining the variance in people's trust and policy compliance	Thomas Scotto	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	12343100 ES/W011913/1	SS - College Senior Management