Private hospital admissions soar to record high as hundreds of thousands rely on insurance

Private hospitals on track for record level of admissions this year as patients pay for diagnostics

Keir Starmer said that the private sector could help reduce NHS waiting times (PA)

Private hospitals saw record admissions this year after hundreds of thousands of people sought care through their insurance amid rocketing NHS waiting lists, new figures show.

Between January and June 443,000 private treatments took place – a 7 per cent rise from 2022, the vast majority of which were claimed through medical insurance policies.

According to the Private Hospital Information Network (PHIN), which collects data from hospitals in the sector, there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of people paying for care via insurance with 157,000 people using this route from January to March and 148,000 from April to June this year.

The news comes as the NHS’s waiting list continues to grow with almost 7.8 million appointments recorded. Recently published data shows that there is a total of 6.5 million individual people on the waiting list.

New waiting list figures are due to be published by the NHS on Thursday and recent research suggests that the backlog will keep growing until at least August next year.

David Furness, from the Independent Healthcare Provider Network – which represents the interests of private hospitals – told The Independent: “We know from our own research, the most important factor in people choosing the private sector for care is long NHS waiting lists – nearly half – 46 per cent – of people who’ve used private healthcare said being unable to get an NHS appointment was a factor.

“The growth in demand for insurance particularly could show that people are taking steps to protect themselves and their families’ health.

“We also know that employers are increasingly realising the value of offering private medical insurance to their employees – our recent polling showed a quarter (25 per cent) of all businesses now offer PMI for their employees, with a further 20 per cent planning to introduce it in the next year.”

The figures show for patients paying through private insurance that the biggest increases this year occurred in those needing diagnostic colonoscopy procedures, to diagnose bowel conditions for example.

The number of consultant doctors working in private hospitals also reached a three-year high in March 2023 at 9,000, the report said.

Dr Ian Gargan, chief executive of PHIN, said the sector is on track to record its highest-ever number of admissions this year. 

“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.”

He said the number of people paying for diagnostics is also increasing as people seek assurance over whether they need treatment rather than risk waiting for NHS services.

This week the British Medical Association announced further strike action dates for December and January, prompting healthcare leaders to warn any further action will hit trusts’ ability to reduce the national waiting list.

NHS England also told trusts last month to pull back on efforts to tackle the backlog in a bid to save money due to financial pressures on the NHS.

This article was updated to reflect the correct time periods covered by the data.