30.11.12
48% want tax increase to protect NHS
The public support an increase in taxes to protect NHS services, a new poll suggests.
An Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the Nuffield Trust found that 48% of people said they wanted to “increase taxes in order to maintain the level of spending needed to keep the current level of care and services provided by the NHS”.
The poll also found that 21% said that spending on other areas like education and welfare should be cut to protect the NHS. Only 11% said the level of service provided by the NHS should drop so that tax rises are not needed.
Ben Page, chief executive of Ipsos MORI, said: “The results of this poll show the lengths the public say they are willing to go to, to protect current NHS services.”
The Nuffield Trust warned that efficiency savings will have to continue beyond the end of the decade, unless the economy drastically improves.
Chief economist Anita Charlesworth said: “There are no easy options for health beyond the current spending review.
“Without unprecedented, sustained increases in productivity, funding for health in England will need to increase in real terms after 2014-15 to avoid cuts to the service or a fall in the quality of care patients receive.”
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