A quarter of GPs have taken out private health insurance – while the NHS struggles with record waiting lists

A quarter of GPs have taken out private medical insurance amid record hospital waiting lists, a survey has revealed.

Personal private medical insurance has been taken out by 21 per cent of GPs, while 4 per cent fund it through their employer.

A further 15 per cent have not accessed private insurance for healthcare but are considering doing so, according to the survey of 860 family doctors by GP magazine Pulse.

NHS waiting lists in England have hit record levels, with 7.47million patients – about one in eight – waiting to start hospital treatment at the end of May.

One GP told Pulse: ‘I have and will continue to seek a private opinion for myself and for my family where NHS waiting lists are too long.

‘Locally, routine mental health appointments are 18 months, ADHD and autism spectrum disorder assessments up to four years, cardiology and dermatology appointments are one year.

‘I am fortunate in being able to afford private care, but I am conscious that many cannot.’ The GP added: ‘The NHS is on its knees. The waits aren’t the fault of the hospital doctors – understaffing is a common theme in primary and secondary care.’

Dr Shahid Dadabhoy, a GP partner in north-east London, said: ‘I decided to access the private sector and get insured because I am not bulletproof and neither is my family. 

‘As a GP, I can’t be offline through sickness or waiting for investigations on the NHS. I need to get patched up and back to the ever-thinning NHS frontline as soon as possible.’

Last year there were 547,000 in-patient and day-case admissions paid for with private medical insurance in the UK, according to the Private Healthcare Information Network. 

In the fourth quarter of the year, procedures paid for with insurance reached their highest since the pandemic, with hip and knee replacement rates higher than in 2019.

Responding to the Pulse survey, one GP described being driven to take out private medical insurance after their son developed glue ear, where the middle part of the ear canal fills up with fluid.

The doctor said: ‘The NHS wait was three months for a first appointment, then another nine months for surgery.

‘A whole year for a two-year-old to miss out on all the social development that goes along with being able to hear.

‘I paid privately for the day-case surgery which was nearly £5,000 and I took out health insurance the next day.

‘I no longer trust the NHS to diagnose or treat cancer in a timely manner and I consider private health insurance to be an essential expense.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top five priorities and we are making progress, including virtually eliminating 18-month waits and treating record numbers each day.’