Long waiting lists are driving a boom in medical insurance and self-pay treatment, raising fears of a permanent shift in attitudes towards the health service. Rosemary Duff, 71, from Norwich, spent nearly £28,000 from her savings on hip replacements after being told of an 18-month NHS wait. 'Much against my principles, I agreed to go private,' she said.
The NHS waiting list in England peaked at nearly 7.8 million in September and stood at 7.5 million in February, compared with 4.6 million before the pandemic. Nearly half of patients have been waiting 18 weeks or longer. The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts the list will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2030.
Insurers Axa and Aviva have had to recruit extra call-centre staff to handle rising demand. Self-pay now accounts for 28% of private hospital revenue, up from 25% in 2019, according to LaingBuisson. A hip replacement costs between £9,000 and £16,500, while knee replacements range from £12,000 to £15,000.
Duff, now fully mobile, said: 'What makes me so angry is that there are a lot of people out there who probably have jobs they are dependent on that they’re no longer able to do because of joint problems. And it’s such an easy operation to sort out.'
