Poll: Half of Scots believe NHS has got worse since Nicola Sturgeon became FM

Public confidence in the Scottish Government's handling of education, health and justice has fallen, according to a new poll.
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The YouGov poll for The Times recorded negative ratings for all three areas, as well as for the economy.

More than half of the 1,002 adults in Scotland surveyed between November 29 and December 3 believe the health service is being handled badly by ministers.

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visits a hospital. Picture: PAFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon visits a hospital. Picture: PA
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Four in 10 (40%) said it is performing well, giving a net rating of -12, down from +7 when the same questions were asked in a YouGov poll for The Times in April.

Healthcare

Half of the respondents (50%) believe the service provided by the NHS has got worse since Ms Sturgeon became First Minister in 2014, while 7% said it has improved.

Of those who believe the performance has remained roughly the same over the past five years, 26% said the service is good and 5% said it is bad.

Nicola Sturgeon makes Christmas cards with children, during a visit to Happy Days Nursery with Owen Thompson, SNP candidate for Midlothian. Picture: Getty ImagesNicola Sturgeon makes Christmas cards with children, during a visit to Happy Days Nursery with Owen Thompson, SNP candidate for Midlothian. Picture: Getty Images
Nicola Sturgeon makes Christmas cards with children, during a visit to Happy Days Nursery with Owen Thompson, SNP candidate for Midlothian. Picture: Getty Images

Education

On education, just under half (48%) of respondents said the Scottish Government is handling it badly, while 40% believe it is heading in the right direction.

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The net score for this area is -8 - 10 percentage points down on April.

A total of 44% of those surveyed said the Scottish Government is handling the justice system badly, while 38% believe it is being handled well.

Since the +2 net score for justice in April, this has fallen to -6.

Those who think the government is not performing well on the economy were marginally larger at 44% than the 43% who said the opposite, giving an overall rating of -1.

The April poll did not measure public confidence in the economy

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