37% of chronic patients feel NHS abandoned: Can health IT turn the tide?

When over a third of people with chronic conditions say the NHS leaves them to manage alone, the system is failing at its core promise. For health‑IT leaders, this 37% figure is more than a stat—it is a glaring signal of where digital innovation can intercept. Platforms that offer continuous condition monitoring, AI‑powered coaching and seamless patient‑provider communication can fill the void between diagnosis and daily life, while also generating the outcome data that commissioners crave.

The UK is facing a troubling shift: people are living fewer years in good health, and a growing number of working‑age adults are reporting long‑term sickness. A 2025 National Voices survey crystallizes the patient experience: 37% of those with a chronic condition feel unsupported by the NHS in managing their physical health, compared with just 16% of people with no long‑term illness. Against that backdrop, the story of Angie—who is preparing to leave the UK for Bulgaria—puts a human face on a system that is, in her words, failing to deliver after diagnosis. Her experience of being ‘left to your own devices’ once a condition is identified has forced her to spend a fortune on private care, a pattern that is becoming more common.

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A 2025 National Voices survey crystallizes the patient experience: 37% of those with a chronic condition feel unsupported by the NHS in managing their physical health, compared with just 16% of people with no long‑term illness.

The decline in healthy life expectancy is not anecdotal. Office for National Statistics data shows that healthy life expectancy at birth for males in the UK fell from 63.4 years in 2017–19 to 62.4 in 2020–22, a drop of a full year in just a few years. For females, the figure went from 64.1 to 62.7. This means that, on average, a British man born today can expect to spend over a decade of his life in ill health. The reasons are complex: an ageing population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases (including ME, autoimmune conditions, diabetes and mental health disorders), the pandemic’s lingering shadow, and an NHS that is arguably struggling to move from an acute‑focused model to one that provides long‑term, holistic management.

Angie’s decision to relocate—driven partly by Bulgaria’s more responsive primary care—highlights a paradox. The Bulgarian system, a public‑private hybrid funded by a 3.2% payroll tax (with additional out‑of‑pocket fees for non‑emergency visits), offers quick doctor appointments. Yet Bulgaria ranks poorly on OECD health outcomes. This underscores that speed of access does not automatically translate into better population health. The issue is not merely funding model but the quality and continuity of chronic care. Many European systems with social insurance models, such as Germany or the Netherlands, achieve both good access and strong health outcomes, partly because they embed structured disease‑management programmes, digital tools and patient self‑management support from the start.