Fivefold increase in patients seeking private primary care

THE NHS winter crisis has triggered a fivefold increase in patients resorting to private health cover for primary care such as GP and dentistry appointments, figures show.

Health insurers Vitality, Aviva and Simplyhealth all reported a spike in private GP consultations. Vitality, which has 900,000 customers, said claims for primary care services, including GP appointments, had risen nearly fivefold, 374 per cent, between 2018 and 2022.

It comes as former health secretary Sajid Javid said charging some patients for GP appointments and other services was “crucial” if the NHS was to survive.

Vitality also said more than half (55 per cent) of its health insurance claims in the year to September 2022 were for primary care, up from 32 per cent in 2019 and 10 per cent in 2015.

Private dental appointments were up 411 per cent, while physiotherapy appointments rose 343 per cent.

The company said the rises were caused by the difficulty in accessing these services for free via the NHS.

Aviva said it has seen the number of people registering for private appbased GP services rise by about 70 per cent in the year to December 2022.

There were about 8,000 consultations booked each month last year, up from 5,800 a month in 2021. Appointments made for children rose sharply from November to December 2022.

The most common reasons for private GP consultations in the past year were skin complaints and muscular and joint complaints.

Simplyhealth also confirmed a shift in private insurance being used increasingly for GP appointments.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “This is yet another sign that the front door to the NHS is broken.” A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are growing the GP workforce, have a record number of doctors in training and have recruited over 21,000 additional staff into general practice.”