Following an election that was as much about the NHS as it was about Brexit, recruiting more doctors and nurses should be one of the Government’s top priorities, according to new polling conducted for Policy Exchange, which shows that:

42% of voters cited a shortage of doctors and nurses as one of their three biggest concerns for the NHS and 61% want investment in these professionals prioritised by the Conservatives.

Voters in the North (45%) and Midlands (39%) were particularly concerned by shortages of doctors and nurses, whereas in London and the South the top issue was waiting times.
Nearly a third of voters (31%) said getting a GP appointment quickly enough was one of their three biggest concerns

71% see the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Government as accountable for the NHS, with just 8% citing the CEO of NHS England

Women are more concerned than men about the waiting times between diagnosis and treatment (41% of women put this in their top three concerns compared to 32% of men).

Misuse of the NHS and waste come through strongly for C2 voters – a key demographic group that swung to the Conservatives last week. They are much more likely to rank misuse of the NHS highly (36% to 26% overall), as well as money being wasted (26% to 23% overall)