Long NHS Waits Top Reason for Going Private, Survey Finds

Not being able to get an NHS appointment quickly enough was the top reason people cited for using private health care, a survey has found.
Twenty percent also said it was because they had workplace health insurance and 17 percent said they thought the care they received in private settings was of higher quality than on the NHS.
The Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), a private health care membership body which conducted the survey into public attitudes of independent health care, said that data obtained from providers found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an ever increasing demand for private health care.
IHPN Chief Executive David Hare said on Monday that the findings of the 2024 “Going Private” survey “once again shows a growing willingness for people across the UK to pay for treatment.”
Of those who have previously used private health care, 42 percent went straight to independent services the next time they needed care services rather than trying the NHS first, compared with 55 percent who initially went to the NHS.
The findings also point to a generational shift in attitudes towards using private health care, with people aged between 18 and 34 being generally more positive about private health care and willing to consider using it.
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of 25- to 34-year-olds said they would consider using private health care, the demographic most open to it, followed by 18- 24-year-olds (74 percent).
Now, according to analysis by the think tank, the UK has some of the longest waiting times, with 11 percent waiting more than a year to be seen.
Another 61 percent of UK respondents said they had waited at least four weeks to see a specialist last year, up from 14 percent in 2013.
Compared with other developed nations like Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, the UK also performed poorly when it comes to patients spending time with their GPs, with just over half (58 percent) saying they felt they had spent enough time with them. Bar Sweden (60 percent), all other nations in the study had around 80 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied with the time they had with their family doctor.
The government and NHS England have set a target of March 2025 to eliminate all waits of more than 12 months, with a Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson saying in August: “We inherited a broken NHS and it is unacceptable that so many people are waiting longer than needed for care.
“It is our mission to get the health service back on its feet and build an NHS fit for the future. We know that waiting lists are too high, and it is one of the reasons the Health and Social Care Secretary ordered a full independent investigation into the state of the NHS to lay bare the scale of the problem.”
The DHSC spokesperson added that the new Labour government would deliver an extra 40,000 appointments every week in an effort to bring down waiting times.