Long NHS Waits Top Reason for Going Private, Survey Finds

An elderly gentleman walks past a hospital sign in London in a file photo. Cate Gillon/Getty Images

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.

Some 45 percent of respondents to a survey said that waiting times were a factor in them seeking independent health services, followed by 27 percent who said they did so because it was easier to book private appointments.

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.”

“Perhaps unsurprisingly with NHS waiting lists still at record levels, speed of access to care is the top reason cited for choosing to ‘go private’, with the overwhelming majority of people who have used private healthcare considering it worth the expense – reflecting not only the excellent quality of service and quality of care which the sector provides, but also of the growing value that people are placing on their health and wellbeing,” Hare said.

Private Health Care Normalised

Using private health care is also “becoming increasingly normalised,” according to the report, with almost one-third (32 percent) of people surveyed stating they had used private health care before.

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).

Younger generations are also far more likely to have accessed private GP services, with over half (54 percent) of all 18- to 24-year-olds having done so, followed by 44 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds, which is higher than the average of 27 percent.

Long Waits

Last week, a report by the Health Foundation found that the UK was falling behind other high-income nations in terms of patients waiting for hospital care, after being one of the top countries for people seeing a specialist in less than four weeks just a decade ago.

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.

Rachel Roberts contributed to this report.