Sunak: I am registered with NHS GP ... now

Prime Minister finally discloses he is on surgery’s books but confesses he went private in the past

RISHI SUNAK has disclosed he used private healthcare in the past but he is now registered with an NHS GP. The

Prime Minister avoided questions on the subject until yesterday and declined three times at the weekend to say if he had ever paid for medical cover.

He claimed the question was “not really relevant” during an interview on the BBC’S Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, but disclosed at Prime Minister’s Questions that he had used “independent healthcare” before.

Asked by Cat Smith, the Labour MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood, how long he had waited for his last NHS dental appointment, Mr Sunak said there were “now more NHS dentists across the UK with more funding”. He added: “Let me answer the honourable lady directly. I am registered with an NHS GP.

“I have used independent healthcare in the past and I am grateful to the Friarage Hospital for the fantastic care that it has given my family over the years. The truth is, I am proud to come from an NHS family, and that is why I am passionately committed to protecting the NHS with more funding, more doctors and nurses and a clear plan to cut the waiting lists.”

The Prime Minister’s press secretary confirmed he no longer had private health insurance, although declined to say when his cover ceased.

“In principle, he believes that the personal health details of individuals should remain private, but given the level of interest and in the interests of transparency he has set out that he is registered with an NHS GP,” she said.

“He has used private healthcare in the past. He doesn’t have private healthcare cover. I am not going to get into timelines.”

Pressed during the Tory summer leadership campaign on when he and his family last used the health service, Mr Sunak said: “You wouldn’t expect me to talk about my kids’ medical [history], but of course we use the NHS.”

Margaret Thatcher revealed she used private health cover while in Downing Street in 1987, as she believed it was “vital” for her to “go into hospital on the day I want, at the time I want, and with a doctor I want”.

David Cameron, meanwhile, made a point of using the NHS.

Earlier in the day, Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, confirmed he did not subscribe to private provision but did not have a problem with those who did. “I think that is a perfectly reasonable thing for people to want to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, Labour confirmed Sir Keir Starmer, the party leader, had never used private healthcare.