Record year for treating private patients

On 12 December,2023 | In News

Going up, up and up! The private healthcare sector continues to head towards a record year for treating patients.

According to latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), the number of private admissions was up in all home nations in the second quarter of 2023.

Private medical insurance admissions were up, but self-pay admissions fell in comparison to the same period in 2022.

The data covers private healthcare inpatient/day-case market activity, insured cases, self-pay, national/regional and procedural breakdowns and demographic information. 

PHIN reports the drop in self-pay was more pronounced for female admissions.

Diagnostic procedures showed the biggest increases among a list of top ten procedures, which are based on primary PHIN procedure group of episodes.

Dr Ian Gargan

According to the data body’s chief executive Dr Ian Gargan, the sector is on track, as predicted, to record its highest ever number of admissions this year.

He said: ‘Patients increasingly used private medical insurance to pay for their treatment and this upturn may be due to the ongoing and extensive NHS waiting lists forcing more people to consider their healthcare options, and plan ahead, in ways that they have never had to before. 

‘They may feel they can no longer rely on the public health service as they have always previously done to get the operations they need in a timely manner.’ 

Dr Gargan said the number of people paying for diagnostics procedures, such as a ‘diagnostic colonoscopy – bowel’, was also increasing, as they wanted to be sure whether they needed treatment and not risk waiting and finding out their health was deteriorating.

‘We saw a surge in self-pay admissions after the Covid pandemic lockdowns as people seemingly looked to make up for lost time, but that is continuing to level off, with the number of female admissions using this payment method in particular falling. 

‘There was a fall in admissions for the 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 age groups. This could reflect a lower need for a significant procedure in those younger age groups or the lack of insurance or ability to self-pay.’

Inpatient/day-care admissions comparison Q1 2019 – Q2 2023. Supplied by PHIN.