An exclusive Channel 4 News poll published today shows how Brits feel about the current NHS crisis. It reveals low public confidence in 999 emergency response, support for charging those who miss appointments, and a mixed picture on the question of who is to blame.

Let’s take a look.

Is the public confident they’ll get the treatment needed when they ring 999?

Polling for Channel 4 News conducted by YouGov reveals that 60 per cent of UK adults are “not very confident” or “not confident at all” that they would get the treatment they needed if they rang 999 for a health emergency.

Channel 4 News’ exclusive survey of 2,059 UK adults found that only 4 per cent of people were “very confident” they would receive the care they required and 31 per cent were “fairly confident”.

What can be done to help the NHS crisis?

Respondents were asked how they felt about a range of possible solutions to the current crisis.

The most popular was the prospect of charging people who miss NHS appointments – which garnered 70 per cent support, versus 22 per cent who opposed it.

Our poll found that there was nearly an equal split of those supporting and opposing raising income taxes, (43 per cent and 46 per cent respectively), while 48 per cent supported charging people earning over £100,000 a year to use certain health services and 41 per cent opposed this.

Who is to blame?

Asked who or what was most to blame for problems in the NHS, the most popular answer was government policy (30 per cent of respondents).

A further 24 per cent said the shortage of workers, 8 per cent said the pandemic, 7 per cent said immigration and 6 per cent said the economy and cost of living.

Meanwhile, 4 per cent of those surveyed for Channel 4 News blamed strike action and Brexit for the crisis respectively, and 1 per cent on the war in Ukraine.

Can anyone solve it?

When asked who they trusted the most to handle issues within the NHS, only 14 per cent of those polled for Channel 4 News said a Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak, compared to 34 per cent saying a Labour government led by Keir Starmer.

However, 38 per cent voted for neither and 14 per cent didn’t know which they would choose.