Chris Coates explores how data in the UK Data Service collection is being used to look at how the British feel about the NHS on its big birthday.
The NHS is 70 on 5 July 2018, and another long-standing UK institution, exactly half its age, can tell us a lot about it.
The British Social Attitudes Survey began in 1983, and asks over 3,000 people each year what it’s like to live in Britain and how they think Britain is run. So, for half of the NHS’s lifetime, we’ve myanmar rcs data been able to find out what the public thinks of the quality of its care, its funding, and what the future might hold.
This year, in the build-up to the big anniversary, we’ve seen researchers and think tanks queueing up to use this particular resource and give the NHS a birthday check-up.
Five collaborative reports
In particular, researchers from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Health Foundation, King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust have worked together for the first time using data from the most recent British Social Attitudes Survey and health statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. As a result, they’ve produced five reports covering quality of care, social care, funding, our expectations, and new technology. This major project is informing the BBC’s coverage of the anniversary.