Poll Reveals 1 in 6 Turn to Private Care as NHS Struggles With Waiting Lists

File photo of ambulances lined up outside the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, Kent, England. Gareth Fuller/PA Media

At least one in six people have turned to private health care as patients have had trouble accessing the NHS since 2020, poll results suggest.

The most common reason people turned private was to avoid the NHS waiting list, according to the think tank Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), which commissioned the YouGov poll.

Among those who needed health care services since 2020, almost half (34 percent of all respondents) had trouble accessing them while 40 percent didn’t, results show. A quarter of the respondents either didn’t need health care services or didn’t remember whether they had trouble with access.

For those who live with a health condition that impacts day-to-day life, 51 percent had trouble accessing NHS care while 40 percent didn’t.

More than one in six (17 percent) resorted to using private health care. When dental care is included, more than a third (67 percent) have turned private.

Almost one in four (23 percent) people from affluent backgrounds accessed private health care while only one in ten (10 percent) from less affluent backgrounds have done so.

A separate report published by Private Healthcare Information Network (PPIN) in May has also shown record use of private health care services.

According to PPIN’s latest private market update, there were 820,000 private admissions in 2022, around 8 percent up from 2021 and the highest number on record.

It comes as a study found that the NHS was lagging behind many comparable countries in terms of health outcomes.

Research published by The King’s Fund found that while the taxpayer-funded NHS does well in shielding the ill from the financial impact, it performs worse in a number of important outcomes such as life expectancy and avoidable deaths.

Elevated Waiting Time

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average waiting time for treatment in England jumped up to almost 20 weeks, according to NHS figures.

The waiting time was cut down in late 2020 but still remains elevated as the NHS struggles to catch up.

In April 2023, the median waiting time was 13.8 weeks, almost double the time (7.2 weeks) in April 2019.

Median referral to treatment waiting times in England. Data Source: NHS

Waiting times in A&E also remain high. In May, around 122,423 people in England waited for more than four hours before admission, 83 percent up from April 2019.

The number of patients waiting for more than four or 12 hours for A&E admission in England. Data Source: NHS

The situation was compounded by industrial action over pay and conditions for healthcare workers including nurses, doctors, and ambulance staff.

While the months-long dispute between nurses and the government has subsided, junior doctors have launched a fresh five-day strike.

Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are striking between 7 a.m. on July 13 and the same time on July 18, demanding “pay restoration” to catch up with inflation.

BMA leaders Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi said it’s “the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history.”

Hospital consultants in England will then stage a two-day strike from 7 a.m. on July 20 in another BMA walkout.

The Society of Radiographers has also announced a 48-hour action starting at 8 a.m. on July 25.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, has said trusts will “hardly have time to draw breath” between the strikes.

“The disruption for many thousands of patients and the potential harm of delaying their treatment is a huge and growing risk for the NHS to manage,” she said.

She also said that more than 651,000 routine procedures and appointments were forced to be rescheduled amid eight months of strikes, warning of an erosion of trust between hospital leaders and their staff.