Dan WellingsThink tank

Biography

Dan Wellings is a Senior Fellow in the Policy team at The King's Fund, where his work focuses on patient and staff experience and public perceptions of the NHS and social care system. He joined The King's Fund in April 2017, having previously served as Head of Insight and Feedback at NHS England, where his team ran national surveys including the GP Patient Survey, the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, and the NHS Staff Survey. Before NHS England, he worked as Research Director at Ipsos MORI, specialising in public attitudes to the NHS and social care. He holds a Masters in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a lead author of the annual British Social Attitudes survey analysis on NHS and social care satisfaction, jointly published by The King's Fund and the Nuffield Trust, and is regularly quoted in the press on trends in public satisfaction with health and care services.

References

1. 1.Dan Wellings | The King's Fund — Establishes current role as Senior Fellow, Policy; career history at NHS England and Ipsos MORI; MPH from LSHTM; focus areas of patient/staff experience and public perceptions
2. 2.Dan Wellings | The Nuffield Trust — Corroborates role and career history; links to LinkedIn and X accounts identifying him
3. 3.Public Satisfaction With The NHS Slumps To New Record Low | The King's Fund — Identifies Wellings as lead analyst of the 2024 BSA survey reporting record-low NHS satisfaction of 24%
4. 4.British Social Attitudes Survey: Boost in Public Satisfaction With the NHS for the First Time Since Pandemic | The King's Fund — Documents Wellings as named spokesperson and analyst for the 2026 BSA results; includes press office contact
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Public satisfaction with the NHS
• Patient and staff experience
• Public perceptions of social care
• Health and care survey research
• Social care funding opinion
• Patient voice and community engagement

Notable achievements

• Lead author of the 2024 British Social Attitudes survey analysis showing NHS satisfaction fell to a record low of 24%, the lowest in the survey's 41-year history Source ↗
• Lead author of the 2026 British Social Attitudes survey analysis showing the first rise in NHS public satisfaction since the pandemic Source ↗
• Contributed analysis to the 2024 BSA social care findings showing public satisfaction with social care hit a new low of 13% Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “We must not lose sight of the unacceptable reality that some individuals are still having to wait for care in inappropriate settings, including corridors and even storage cupboards. Every patient deserves safe, timely and high-quality treatment.”

  Senior Fellow at The King's Fund · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Corridor care ‘new normal’ in England for one in five NHS inpatients ↗

• “even highly satisfied patients still believe the worst of the NHS, assuming they've been lucky against the odds.”

  King's Fund analyst · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · The right wants to destroy our fragile faith in the NHS – don’t let that happen | Polly Toynbee ↗

• “Frustration with waiting times remains deeply embedded, and many people still feel that access to NHS care is difficult. Either it's too hard to get through the front door or they are in a queue that barely moves”

  senior fellow at The King's Fund · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Public satisfaction with the NHS rises for first time since 2019 ↗

Source references

1. Corridor care ‘new normal’ in England for one in five NHS inpatientstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. The right wants to destroy our fragile faith in the NHS – don’t let that happen | Polly Toynbeetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Public satisfaction with the NHS rises for first time since 2019theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.kingsfund.org.uk/about-us/our-people/dan-wellings
• Xhttps://x.com/danwellingspublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/dan-wellings-b2324932published here ↗
• Press office phone020 7307 2585published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.