LONG NHS WAITS HELP DRIVE MORE PATIENTS TO PAY FOR PRIVATE SURGERY

Indipendent - The number of British people choosing to pay for private hospital surgery has soared with the total amount spent doubling in six years to £1.1bn. Widespread NHS rationing of treatments and record waiting lists have helped deliver a 7.4 per cent real-terms growth in self-paying patients between 2014 and 2018, according to market analysts LaingBuisson. Its latest report forecasts the market will continue to grow to £1.3bn by 2021. It also found NHS hospitals were increasingly profiting from the treatment of private patients, with total revenue from NHS-run private units up 3.2 per cent to £677m in 2018-19, with particular growth in obstetrics and cardiology. There are more than 4.4 million patients now on the NHS waiting list for surgery, the highest ...>>>