Health service 'trusted less in Wales than England'

Fewer people in Wales than England trust the NHS to provide a high quality service, a poll has suggested.

More than a third of respondents in Wales said they did not trust it, compared to a fifth in England.

Prof Roger Scully of the Wales Governance Centre said the polls were the latest to show more pessimism about health in Wales than other UK nations.

However, the Welsh government said the recent national survey showed people were "highly satisfied" with the NHS.

'Not very optimistic'

The findings are the first to be published from the new Welsh Political Barometer poll released by the centre, part of Cardiff University.

It also found 47% in Wales thought the NHS would get worse over the next few years, compared to 37% thinking so in England.

Prof Scully said: "These findings do tend to suggest that public evaluations of the performance of the NHS in Wales are not particularly strong, and also that people are not very optimistic about its future."

Pointing to a poll published by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft in January, he added: "Our findings here do not seem to be some freak outlier, but symptomatic of a consistent pattern in public attitudes."

The Welsh government responded by saying the latest National Survey for Wales of more than 14,000 people had found a more positive view of the NHS, with approval rates of more than 90% for questions about GP and hospital care.

"It is vital people have confidence in their health service," a spokesperson said.

"We know that when people are asked about their actual experiences, and not just an abstract question, they are incredibly positive about the Welsh NHS."

The Welsh Conservatives' Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said trust in the NHS had been "rocked" by what he called Labour's "record-breaking cuts".

"There is clear need for an urgent plan of action to invest in the frontline, turn performance around and restore public confidence," he said.

The Welsh Political Barometer poll was based on research carried out for the Wales Governance Centre by YouGov, questioning more than 1,100 people in Wales and nearly 1,600 people for parallel polls in England.