Health Rise in search for private care ‘worrying’

BRISTOL has the third highest demand for doctors and dentists out of any other major UK city.

The rate of searches for private healthcare across the UK is now three times the national average, compared with what it was 10 years ago.

Bristol, which had the third highest search rates out of 25 cities was 40 per cent higher than the national average. Research carried out earlier this year by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found an increase in those using private healthcare who would have previously gone to the NHS.

Chris Thomas from the IPPR Think Tank said the increase is worrying because it undermines the premise of universal healthcare being according to need rather than finances.

With private services increasingly being available within NHS buildings, those at IPPR fear that such trends could increase health inequalities.

Mr Thomas said: “What we’re seeing is that when people are faced with really long waits or disruptive care they are faced with really hard decisions.

“Over the last 10 years and then particularly accelerated over the pandemic is that lots of NHS services have been getting worse.

“There’s been a lot fewer cancer diagnoses than we would have expected, disruption to the dementia care plans and longer mental health waiting lists. With dentistry we’ve seen massive barriers for people trying to access [NHS dentists], this could expand across the NHS.

“Private healthcare is regularly using the same capacity that the NHS would use.

“Although there are some bespoke clinics in London, they are very often using the same building and the same staff.

“For those who support a strong independent healthcare sector and there being lots of choice might like to contend that it takes pressure off the NHS.

“But if it’s the same workers and spaces quite often, then it doesn’t take any pressure off the NHS.

“It just gives richer, more affluent people the opportunity to get to the front of the queue.

“The perverse part of that being that they are probably not going to be based on need in the way that the NHS is meant to be.

“Since poverty and deprivation are the biggest indicators of health outcomes. It undermines the logic of treating those with the greatest need first.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are working to ease pressure on the NHS by busting the Covid backlogs so that everyone can access a doctor or a dentist when they need them. “There are record numbers of GPs currently in training and we are working to create 50 million more GP appointments a year.

A spokesperson at Longevita, who provided the data, said: “Amid fears of a winter NHS squeeze, characterised by difficulty getting a doctor’s appointment and long ambulance wait times, we are seeing an increase in people searching for private medical care online.

“For those that can afford private medical care, it can be a lifeline to those in need of a quick appointment.

“Google Trends data reveals that demand has swelled threefold over the last 10 years, with dentists and doctors in need across the country.”