Healthwatch warns private care surge as NHS waits rise
Get SkimNews daily
A curated daily digest across 7 categories: geopolitics, tech, finance, health, energy, sports, culture. Free.
- Healthwatch England reported that 16% of people in England used private health services in the past year, up from 9% two years earlier, based on a survey of nearly 2,600 people.
- Healthwatch England found that 35% of individuals earning over £80,000 used private care in the past year, versus only 10% of those earning under £20,000.
- Private sector providers performed nearly 950,000 operations and treatments last year, and many patients also pay for private scans and tests that can be arranged within 48 hours before returning to the NHS.
- NHS waiting times exceed the 18‑week target for almost four in ten patients, driving them to seek private alternatives.
- British Medical Association chair Katie Bramall warned that GPs are seeing added workload as patients bring private test results back to NHS care, reinforcing a two‑tier system.
- Department of Health and Social Care said waiting lists are at their lowest level in nearly three years and that extra investment is being made to end the two‑tier system, though the watchdog says more action is needed.
Why it matters: Higher‑income patients can bypass NHS delays by paying for private scans and surgeries, while lower‑income patients stay on long waiting lists, and GPs must juggle private test results alongside NHS care, widening inequality and increasing pressure on the NHS despite government pledges to reduce waits.
Ask SkimNews
