Thursday, September 27, 2012

Survey shows state of the Welsh nation

People in Wales are extremely satisfied with GP surgeries, hospitals and schools but remain concerned about the financial situation, the National Survey for Wales reveals.
The survey collects robust, detailed information on the views and experiences of people across Wales, on a wide range of topics including wellbeing and satisfaction with public services.
The survey, which began in January 2012, involves face to face interviews with around 14,500 people a year.
This first set of results is based on interviews with 3,500 people aged over 16 and over.
The survey reveals people’s views – where nought is ‘extremely bad’ and ten is ‘extremely good’ – on the transport, health, and education systems.
The overall rating for health was 6.5, education 6.5 and transport 6.1.
People were also asked to rate their satisfaction with how the Welsh Government is doing its job, and the average rating given was 5.8. People under 25 were more satisfied with the Welsh Government, with an average score of 6.3, while people over 25 gave an average score of 5.7.
When asked about their ability to pay bills and other financial commitments, 48 per cent of people said they could keep up, a fall of seven percentage points from 2009-10.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "It is important that we collect the views of the people of Wales, not only as a measure of how well we are delivering for people but also to get an insight into people’s concerns about topics like the services they receive and their local environment.
“It is pleasing that the results show people are extremely satisfied with services delivered by GPs and schools.
“We are committed to making sure our decisions and actions take into account the views of people across Wales. Only by engaging with people can we get a true reflection of people’s satisfaction levels. Only by listening to the people of Wales in this open and robust way can we address areas where people express more concern.”
Some of the results, which are published online on the Welsh Government website, show that in health 92 per cent of people were satisfied with the care they received from their GP or family doctor at their last visit.
The same proportion were satisfied with the care they received at their last appointment at an NHS hospital. Overall, 69 per cent found it easy to get a convenient appointment with their GP or family doctor.
On the topic of schools, 91 per cent of parents were satisfied with their child’s primary school and 88 per cent were satisfied with their child’s secondary school.
A total of 57 per cent of people said that their local authority provides high quality services and 44 per cent said they would like to be more involved in the decisions the local authority makes that affect their local area.
In terms of wellbeing, 73 per cent of people agreed that people in their local area treated each other with respect and consideration; a similar proportion agreed that “people in this neighbourhood are willing to help their neighbours”.
“Satisfaction with financial situation” was given a low or very low rating by 40 per cent of people. Young adults aged 16 to 24 were more likely to give a low or very low rating (52 per cent) compared with those aged 65 and over (23 per cent).
And in an increasingly digital world 70 per cent of households had access to the internet. This means that 77 per cent of people aged 18 or over had access to the internet. Four out of 10 households in the most deprived areas in Wales did not have access to the internet.

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