Britons think the NHS provides better care than healthcare systems in similar countries - but think its days are numbered, a Sky Data poll reveals.

Just over half of Britons - 51% - think the NHS treatment is a step above the care given in European countries similar to the UK, while 21% think NHS care is worse. Some 9% think they provide the same level of care, while 20% don't know.

Most are also confident that the NHS provides value for money - 79% think it does so, including 50% who think it is very good value for money.

Just 11% think it should be providing more bang for its buck; 9% think it is neither good nor bad and 1% answered don't know.

However, as we mark the 70th anniversary of the creation of the NHS, more than two-thirds of the public - 68% - think the NHS will not survive in its current form for a further 70 years. Some 17% believe it will, while 15% say they don't know.


This comes as Britons believe the state of the NHS is worsening.

In a previous Sky Data poll conducted in January, 67% thought the service provided by the NHS had got worse over recent years.

Eight in 10 - 82% - thought the NHS got too little funding - and of those who thought the service was in decline, 60% blamed the government.

Theresa May has since declared an extra £20bn a year will be provided to the NHS, part-funded by a "Brexit dividend".

However, official government forecasts suggest with UK's withdrawal from the EU will in fact lead to a £15bn loss of tax revenues by 2020.

A separate Sky Data poll last week found 47% of people do not think there will be "Brexit dividend", compared to 34% who did.

The NHS's finances explained

More than half (54%) supported increasing taxes to pay for the NHS funding boost.

Most - 52% to 31% - felt the government was being dishonest about where the money would come from.

NHS: From 1948 to 2018 and beyond

Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,138 Sky customers by SMS on 29 June 2018. Data are weighted to the profile of the population.

For full Sky Data tables, please click here.

:: On Wednesday, you can watch a special hour-long live debate on the future of the NHS presented by Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News.