Phone queues of three hours as Bupa case numbers soar

Demand swamps private health companies as desperate NHS patients grow tired of long waits

PRIVATE healthcare companies are struggling to cope with demand, amid record NHS waiting lists.

Bupa customers have complained of long telephone delays, as patients turn to insurance schemes post-pandemic.

The company said it had improved waiting times, recruiting hundreds of call handlers. Customers complained of “outrageous” waits, including three hours in April and 90 minutes this month.

In March, the company apologised on social media, saying: “We’re currently experiencing high volumes making waiting times longer than usual.”

But one group of 49 customers highlighted long delays a full month later.

Amanda Madden, a businesswoman from Cheshire, said waited three hours on April 13 to speak to someone for just three minutes. She said Bupa’s customers had been left “paying large sums of money for a service that is second rate at best” urging the company to deploy more staff to meet demand.

Another customer complained of a three-hour wait on March 30, reporting that they found it “impossible to get through”.

Many customers said long delays were not unusual.

In April, Daniel Head, a businessman from London, said: “Waiting times are not ‘longer than usual’.

“It always takes more than an hour to get through on the phone in my experience, which appears to be shared by others now on this thread.”

Others complained that the company was advising of waiting times of half an hour, when their own experience was far worse.

On April 2 Dave Edwards said: “Setting a fair expectation would be helpful. Waiting time advised at around 30 minutes, I’m currently at 68 minutes.”

Two weeks later another customer described waits of more than an hour as “absolutely outrageous” accusing the company of “appalling service”,

On May 2, Sandra Martinez complained of delays of more than 90 minutes just to set up her account.

Bupa has reported a significant increase in take-up of its medical insurance plans in the wake of the pandemic, as NHS waiting lists have grown.

More than 7.3 million people are now on NHS waiting lists in England, up from 4.4 million before the pandemic.

Bupa’s latest annual report records an extra 275,000 customers joining in the last year for medical insurance, health trusts, dental and cash plans, taking total numbers over 3 million.

Revenue in the Bupa Global and UK operation was up 9 per cent to £3.75billion in 2022-23 but underlying profit decreased by 58 per cent, largely because of losses in its dental business, with plans to sell, close or merge 85 practices.

Bupa said it had taken steps to shorten waiting times, which had improved in recent weeks.

Kirk Bradley, customer service director at Bupa UK Insurance said: “We’re very sorry to any customers who for a short time, had to wait longer than usual to speak to us.

“We’ve recruited more than 250 people into our call centres this year and our service has been back to regular levels since mid-april, with the majority of customer calls answered in less than two minutes. If they prefer, customers can also receive support using webchat and our Bupa Touch app.”

In January, The Telegraph revealed that nearly half a million people had taken out private health insurance over the past year, with Bupa, Aviva and Vitality collectively adding 480,000 customers since the start of 2022.

Aviva cited concerns about pressures on the NHS in the wake of the pandemic as a “significant driver” of rising customer numbers.

“We have noted many individuals considering private health insurance for the first time, including significant interest from younger age groups who traditionally would not have viewed private health insurance as a priority,” the insurer said at the time.

“We are also seeing improved retention rates as individuals and employers are prioritising keeping their valuable healthcare cover in place.”