Survey reveals one in four GPs opt for private medical insurance

As reported by The Times, a quarter of GPs have private medical insurance, a survey has revealed, with widespread concerns among the profession about NHS waiting times and treatment availability

The poll for the GPs’ magazine Pulse found that 21% had personal private medical insurance, and four per cent had it funded through an employer.

A further 15% said they did not have private medical insurance but were considering it.

Doctors filling in the survey said they had been compelled to take out private cover because “NHS waiting lists are too long”, and because the intensity of their workload meant they were unable to take sick days. The NHS waiting list in England is at a record 7.5 million people, with more than 385,000 having been on the list for more than a year.

Private healthcare companies are reporting record demand. The Private Healthcare Information Network reported 820,000 private inpatient and day-patient admissions last year, up from 779,000 in 2019.

One GP said: “I have and will continue to seek a private opinion for myself or my family where NHS wait lists are too long. Locally, routine mental health appointments are 18 months (if a patient isn’t rejected completely as not being suitable), ADHD/ASD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder/autism spectrum disorder] assessments up to four years, cardiology and dermatology appointments are one year, most others several months . . . I am fortunate in being able to afford private care, but I am conscious that many cannot.

“The NHS is on its knees. The waits aren’t the fault of the hospital doctors — understaffing is a common theme in primary and secondary care.”

Another said: “My son had glue ear and needed grommets and adenoids [surgery]. The NHS wait was three months for a first [appointment], then another nine months for the surgery. A whole year for a two-year-old not to hear, not to learn to speak and to miss out on all the social development that goes along with being able to hear.

“I paid privately for the day-case surgery, which was nearly £5,000. That was a real eye-opener, that my self-insurance pot would never keep up with healthcare costs, and I took out health insurance the next day. Sadly, I no longer trust the NHS to diagnose or treat cancer in a timely manner and I consider private health insurance to be an essential expense.”

Dr Shahid Dadabhoy, a GP partner in northeast London, said: “I decided to access the private sector largely because I am not bulletproof and neither is my family. As a GP, I can’t be offline through sickness or waiting for investigations on the NHS. I need to get patched up and paradoxically back to the ever-thinning NHS front line as soon as possible.”

The survey was conducted from June 9 to 15. Pulse said: “The survey is unweighted, and we do not claim this to be scientific, only a snapshot.”