Our Head of Healthcare Proposition, Dawn Prescott, commented on the July NHS waiting list figures, which show the number of patients awaiting treatment has risen.
Dawn said:
"Today's increase is a reminder of how difficult it is to bring down the backlog while demand continues to outstrip capacity across the health service. The government’s progress in reducing the longest waits is encouraging, but rebuilding public confidence remains a challenge. According to our latest Health & Finance Tracker, a third of UK adults are still unsure whether the NHS could fully meet their needs if they became ill.
Given this uncertainty, it is little surprise that demand for private healthcare continues to grow, with the sector on course to approach one million privately funded treatments a year. But this isn't about one system replacing the other. Private and public are increasingly working side by side to give people more choice and quicker access to the care they need.”