Growing dissatisfaction with NHS pushes demand for private GPs

SEARCHES for private GPs have more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, according to new research.

The sharp rise in demand across the UK follows growing public dissatisfaction with NHS services.

According to the private healthcare information website myTribe Insurance, searches for private GPs in the UK increased by 156 per cent between September 2019 and September 2022, from 21,170 to 54,160 per month.

There has been a rise of 151 per cent in England, 166 per cent in Wales, 203 per cent in Scotland and 382 per cent in Northern Ireland. The research also shows a near-doubling of internet searches about how to complain about a GP. In September 2019 there were 5,620 such searches; in September this year there were 9,970.

The figures also show how satisfaction with GPs fell as patients struggled to access face-to-face care during the pandemic. Before Covid, about 80 per cent of consultations took place in a doctor’s surgery. However, the figure was just 57 per cent in September 2021. Latest figures show around two in three consultations taking place in person.

Last week a report by the Care Quality Commission warned that difficulties getting access to GPs are heaping pressures on “packed” A&E departments.

It also follows national polling by the British Social Attitudes survey, which found that satisfaction levels with GP services have plummeted from 68 per cent in 2019 to 38 per cent.

Earlier this month, a report by the Commons health and social care committee warned: “GPs are leaving almost as fast as they can be recruited, and patients are increasingly dissatisfied with the level of access they receive.

“The root cause of this is straightforward: there are not enough GPs to meet the ever-increasing demands on the service. In May this year, there were an estimated 27.5million appointments in general practice, more than two million more than in 2019. Yet over the same period, the number of qualified, fulltime equivalent GPs working in the NHS has declined by nearly 500.”

Chris Steele, founder of myTribe Insurance, said many people were “struggling to get the care they need” and have been left with “little choice but to find alternative solutions”.

“Typically, an initial 30-minute consultation with a private GP costs £45 to £80, with many practices offering same-day appointments,” he said.

“Our research focused on the demand for private GPs; however, the same can be seen in other healthcare areas, with demand for private surgery also surging since the pandemic.”

Prof Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and our teams are working flat out to meet patients’ need for care and services, consistently delivering more consultations than pre-pandemic.

“We know that some patients choose to pay for GP services privately to speed up access to care. But nobody should feel as though they are in a position that they need to pay for services that are available on the NHS.

“Ultimately, the difficulties patients are having accessing our services are the consequence of successive governments’ failures to sufficiently invest in general practice, leaving GP teams without the resources and workforce they need.

“The Government must do everything it can to prevent a two-tier system that prioritises those patients who are able to pay for their care... [by] implementing a recruitment and retention strategy to significantly bolster the GP workforce and make GP workload more manageable by reducing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy.”