now than it was 10 years ago. Think-tank Enlighten has released findings ahead of a major doctors conference today.
Professor John Robertson OBA
We have good reason to doubt the above ‘research‘ given what we know about this think tank and their badly under-qualified research director.
Enlighten are of course the formerly named Reform Scotland, changed now for obvious reasons and headed up by these two.
They seem to be hiding details of their staff now but you may remember their research director, Alison Payne, was a Conservative Party activist and spad, Guide leader and just a mum for BBC interviews with the likes of Kaye Adams but with no apparent postgrad research qualies. We noted her wider thickness in not being able to read and understand OECD research on schools: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=80296&action=edit
Here’s some credible research on NHS satisfaction levels in Scotland and across the UK:
From analysis of the latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey published in April 2025 by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund:
Welsh respondents (69%) were significantly more likely than respondents from England (52%) or Scotland (52%) to be dissatisfied, and this remained true when controlling for other factors. Moreover, only 5% of respondents from Wales said they were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ satisfied with social care in 2024. Despite the relatively small sample, this is significantly lower than respondents from England (13%) or Scotland (17%), and represents the lowest individual country satisfaction score for social care on record.
So, dissatisfaction is a shocking 33% more common in Wales than in Scotland and satisfaction is 30% more common in Scotland than in England. These are big differences.
And from the Nuffield Trust in 2023:
In England, there was a statistically significant decrease in satisfaction between 2021 and 2022 (36 per cent to 29 per cent). Changes in satisfaction in Scotland and Wales were not statistically significant.
Can the above be read to suggest no significant fall in satisfaction rates in Scotland or Wales? I think so but have requested the data tables from the authors, the Nuffield Trust, just to be sure. I’ll update you when I have it.
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