Millions of patients are being forced to pay for private healthcare amid record NHS waiting lists and are having to cut spending, raid savings or get into debt to fund it, new research reveals.
One in 10 (10%) adults in the UK have turned to the private sector or independent healthcare in just the last 12 months, according to a survey commissioned by charity Engage Britain. Of those, almost two-thirds (63%) did so because they faced long delays or could not access treatment on the NHS.
The latest NHS England figures show the number of people in England waiting for routine hospital treatments has jumped to a record 6.8 million. Of those who have gone private, almost half (46%) were forced to reduce their spending in other areas, plunder savings they had been keeping for another purpose, or get into financial debt to pay for it.
Miriam Levin, health and care programme director at Engage Britain, said: “While the NHS still unites many of us with a feeling of pride, it’s clear more and more people feel forced to turn to private treatment.
“As people suffer through months of pain and discomfort after postponed appointments, or waste time and energy chasing up referrals, millions are feeling desperate enough to use savings or get into debt to help us get well again.”
Faced with the prospect of waiting many months on the NHS, Leanne Langford, 59, who damaged her knee while learning to dance, sold her motorbike and took out a loan to pay for a knee replacement operation performed in the private sector.
“I know what the NHS is going through,” she said. “Waiting for eight weeks might become 12 weeks or more. Living on my own I didn’t have anyone to help me and relying on friends just didn’t feel right.”
The surgery cost the mother of two from Kent about £9,000. “It did frighten me how much it was. I’ve not been in debt, I’ve been very fortunate. So I was concerned by that.
“There’s always a perception if you haven’t needed the NHS – more than the odd prescription – that it would be there in your hour of need. But of course that wasn’t the case for me then, and it’s certainly not the case now.
“The NHS is amazing and it’s doing far more than it was set up to do. But the current crisis has shown us there need to be some changes in its delivery and our expectations of it.”
The survey, commissioned by Engage Britain and conducted by Yonder, polled 2,075 UK adults.
Of those who went private in the last year, 46% selected at least one of the following when asked about the financial impact: “I had to go into debt”, “I had to cut back on my spending” or “I had to use savings that I was keeping for another purpose”.
Louise Ansari, national director at Healthwatch England, said the research was “very concerning”.
“People on the lowest incomes are the most likely to wait the longest for NHS treatment and will have a more negative experience of waiting,” she said. “In turn, this leads to a worse impact on their physical health, mental health and their ability to work and care for loved ones.
“Tackling the NHS backlog is a huge challenge but decision-makers must find a way to do so without exacerbating health inequalities, the extent of which has been laid bare by the pandemic.”
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “Whilst health leaders have been working at full pelt to drive down patient waiting times, they know only too well the challenge of clearing the treatment backlog is far from over.
“The NHS is understaffed with over 130,000 vacancies at the last count, and a continued lack of investment is being compounded by decades of austerity. The founding principle of the health is that it is exists for everyone and does not discriminate based on whether people can pay.
“The new government would do well to remember that and need to do more to ensure that timely and safe care and treatment are not only available to those that can afford it.”
When asked “which of the following best describes the reason why you had private healthcare?”, 45% responded, “because of the waiting time for NHS treatment”, and 18% chose “because the treatment you needed was not available on the NHS”, with 63% choosing one of the two options.
Of those who had experienced NHS healthcare in the last 12 months, more than one in four (28%) reported having had an appointment cancelled or postponed.
Almost one in five (18%) said they had not been notified about “something important” relating to their treatment, while 12% reported not being kept “properly updated” while waiting. One in 10 (11%) said there had been a mistake in correspondence from the NHS relating to their treatment.
An NHS England spokesperson said record numbers of people were being treated by the NHS with waits of more than two years “virtually eliminated” and those waiting more than 18 months down by more than 20,000 since January. “The message to patients is clear and has not changed – it is vital that people do not put off seeking care when they need it.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are working to ease pressure on the NHS by busting the Covid backlogs, and recently announced the opening of 50 surgical hubs on top of the 91 that are already open, which will ensure millions of people get the surgery they need.”
