Polling by Ipsos has shown that most Britons support healthcare workers in their wave of strikes over pay and conditions this year despite the worsening disruption. About two-thirds of the public said they supported striking nurses, ambulance workers and junior doctors, despite growing numbers of appointments and operations having to be cancelled, according to Ipsos polling carried out between January and June.
The figures have roughly held steady since the beginning of the year, though they dipped slightly in early spring when doctors, ambulance workers and nurses all held strikes.
Ipsos’s director of politics, Keiran Pedley, said the polling showed that “NHS staff are consistently the most supported by the public” out of all the striking workers. Support for junior doctors has grown from 47% in January to 56% in June, while the figure for nurses has increased from 61% to 62% and support for ambulance workers has grown from 58% to 62%. In June, just 24% of the more than 1,000 respondents said they opposed the junior doctors’ strike, and 21% for ambulance workers and nurses.
Full story in The Guardian, 2 July 2023