More NHS GPs take out private insurance
Concerns about NHS waiting lists and the level of treatments available are prompting more health service GPs to consider buying private medical insurance.
Three-quarters of GPs in a snapshot survey said they did not have cover for independent treatment – but 15% reported they were thinking about it.
The figures were revealed in a survey of 860 GPs for the GP publication Pulsetoday.co.uk.
It reported that respondents said they had been compelled to take private insurance because ‘NHS waiting lists are too long’, and that they were unable to take sick days due to the intensity of the work in general practice.
A north-east London GP partner told Pulse: ‘I decided to access the private sector and get insured, 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 to walking-wounded level and paradoxically back to the ever-thinning NHS frontline as soon as possible.’
Another, who paid £5,000 privately for day-case surgery for a son, said the experience 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.’
Another anonymous GP said: ‘Paying for private insurance gives me (and the practice) this additional resilience and means that I can be seen at short notice by consultants outside practice hours which avoids disrupting practice staffing, which can be rather tight at times.’