Uptake of private medical cover 'inevitable' due to NHS budget squeeze

The government's demand on the NHS to find £20 billion of savings will inevitably lead to more people taking out private medical cover, it has been claimed.

Adrian Fawcett, chief executive of General Healthcare Group (GHG), which owns BMI Healthcare, has said that as the economy picks up and the NHS budget becomes increasingly squeezed, more people will be willing to pay for private treatment.

"During the height of the recession, the self-pay market suffered the most as people lost confidence in their ability to pay but we are starting to see the green-shoots of recovery in this form of healthcare funding," he said.

"It is inevitable that due to the pressures facing the healthcare market some people will decide that for treatments which impact their quality of life, they are increasingly prepared to pay for it themselves."

Mr Fawcett's comments follow a survey commissioned by GHG in which showed that more than half (53 per cent) of GPs are now more likely to suggest private sector care to patients in need of "low priority" operations due to pressures on NHS budgets and capacity.

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