Number of Brits paying for medical treatment has risen by a THIRD since Covid

The number of British paying for private medical treatment has risen by more than a third since the onset of Covid, figures show.

About 199,000 people left for surgeries such as hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery in 2019.

But last year the number stood at 272,000, an increase of 36.7 percent.

Record waiting times for routine NHS procedures have been blamed for the rising trend, with 7.33 million now queued.

The £150bn a year service is cracking at the seams, battered by an exodus of staff, Covid-induced backlogs and a series of devastating strikes over the winter.

Sommer Tebenham, from Hove, is just one who turned to private health care and took out a £5,500 loan to fund gallbladder surgery after being told to wait up to 12 months.

In an effort to combat the ever-growing waiting list, the NHS is expected to pay private companies to carry out cancer checks.

Rishi Sunak will unveil the policy next month, it was claimed today.

Patients can also book NHS-funded procedures in private facilities using the app under separate plans to be confirmed tomorrow.

Data on the number of Britons leaving the ailing NHS comes from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), which shares information on performance and reimbursements from private advisers and hospitals.

Sommer Tebenham, from Hove, is just one who turned to private health care and took out a £5,500 loan to fund an operation after being told she could wait a year

It shows that in 2019 only 199,000 procedures were private.

This fell to around 145,000 in 2020, as the pandemic brought both the NHS and paid operations to a near halt as resources were diverted to treating those most unwell with the virus.

The number of private treatments returned to about 262,000 in 2021, before peaking at 272,000 in 2022.

Cataract surgery was the most popular private procedure, followed by therapies, such as chemo. Hip and knee replacements and hernia repair surgeries were other popular options.

This is despite some treatments costing more than £15,000. Some providers offer monthly deals.

Separate figures show that 550,000 will be paid for private insurance by 2022 – 30,000 less than in 2019, which experts say is caused by the cost of living crisis.

Providers say patients are increasingly desperate for treatment because of record waiting times on the NHS, according to the PHIN.

The latest data from the NHS England shows the backlog is at its highest level since the record began in August 2007, with one in eight people in the country waiting for treatment.

Mrs. Tebenham is a patient who has turned to private care.

She was diagnosed with gallstones in November 2022 and told that surgery to remove them should have taken place in April 2023 – but that could be six to 12 months later.

The 28-year-old then borrowed £5,500, which she will pay off over the next two years, to fund the procedure at a clinic in Luton.

She told the BBC: “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done because I’m not in pain anymore.”

But Ms Tebenham is angry that she had to pay for the operation herself, as she has been paying National Insurance – which partly funds the NHS – since she was 18.

“If this were a different industry, if you pay for a service and don’t receive it, you should get your money back,” she told the broadcaster.

Dr. Ian Gargan, CEO of PHIN, said: ‘There’s a whole combination of factors impacting this growth, with the long NHS waiting lists and uncertainty about how long you’ll be waiting certainly the most important.

“We know everyone loves and respects the NHS and its hard-working staff, but people are increasingly exploring alternatives to healthcare.”

It’s because private companies will be paid to treat NHS patients.

This will open about 12 cancer diagnostic centers in the Southwest, which has some of the longest wait times. They will be managed by one provider.

If the pilot is successful, similar programs will be rolled out in other areas most underserved, expected to be the East of England and the South East.

The NHS already has dozens of diagnostic hubs across the country, offering blood tests and scans.

Experts warned cancer patients are dying while waiting for treatment after data from the NHS England showed that two in five patients are not treated within 62 days. They condemned “avoidable delays” and warned that “unnecessary lives are being lost.”

Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the move next month as part of his plan to use the sector to accelerate the NHS’s recovery, according to The Telegraph.

And on Thursday, the Prime Minister will set out how patients can use the NHS app to choose where to receive treatment, including private hospitals.

Those in England can select their preferred hospital when they are first referred, or later in the process if they have a shorter wait at another location.

Official figures showed that 7.33 million people were waiting for surgeries such as hip and knee replacements at the end of March. The backlog has risen from 7.22 million in February and is the highest total since NHS registrations began in August 2007. Nearly 360,000 patients had to wait years for their routine treatment, often in severe pain

However, NHS data on cancer waiting times showed that the 62-day backlog in cancer has decreased for the first time since before the pandemic. However, almost 6,000 patients did not start treatment within two months after an urgent referral from their GP. It means that a total of only 63 percent of cancer patients were seen within the two-month deadline. According to NHS guidelines, 85 per cent of cancer patients should be seen within this time frame, but this figure has not been met since December 2015

GPs will be monitored under the rules to ensure they inform patients of their ability to choose where they are treated.

A source told the newspaper: “This is about giving more power to the patient. It is partly about using the app for this, so that patients are not dependent on their GP to tell them that they do not have to go to the local hospital alone.

“But it’s also about expanding the role of the private sector, starting with independent sector-driven hubs.”

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer this week revealed his plans to reform the NHS, including similar plans to give patients more choice about where they are treated.

It comes as official figures show that the number of nurses working in the UK has reached an all-time high.

According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), there are now 788,638 nurses, midwives and registered nurses registered to work.

The regulator welcomed the increase of more than 30,000 in a year, but warned sharply about the number leaving the profession prematurely.

And data shows that more than half of new registrants have been trained abroad, leading the Royal College of Nursing to make the NHS ‘over-reliant’ on unsustainable overseas recruitment.

The NMC pointed to “worrying findings” from its departure survey showing that many decided to leave the profession due to burnout or exhaustion, concerns about the quality of care, workload or staffing.