The number of people paying out for private medical treatment has reached record levels - a startling vote of no confidence in the National Health Service. Private health insurance is growing at its fastest rate since Margaret Thatcher was in power, and now covers almost 7 million people, or one in eight of the population.
Even those without medical insurance boycott the NHS in record numbers. Last year, more than 200,000 people jumped NHS waiting lists by paying for private operations - double when Labour came to power. Private hospitals last year carried out over a million procedures. Demand for private medicine is growing so fast that for the first time some private hospitals have waiting lists.
Mike Stone, director of the Patients Association, said attitudes to private health have changed dramatically. 'People who wouldn't have thought about it two years ago are now doing so,' he added. 'They know waiting times are too long. They have a nice lifestyle, and don't want to go into an NHS hospital where it's probably dirty and the food is bad. They can afford it, and think that rather than two weeks in Cyprus, they'd rather get better.'
According to independent analysts Laing & Buisson, spending on private medicine is growing far faster than government spending on the NHS. Last year, the income of private hospitals and clinics reached over £2.1 billion, having grown by 9 per cent in each of the previous two years.
Private insurance started rising sharply last year after 10 years of stagnation, despite Labour's 1997 withdrawal of tax relief. The number of people with cover grew 5.5 per cent - to 6.9 m- in 2000. All the growth was due to more companies offering medical insurance as a perk; the number of individuals paying for their own cover fell as a result of the withdrawal of tax relief and higher prices.
Fergus Kee, managing director of BUPA's UK insurance business, said: 'Companies are increasingly recognising the value of medical insurance to get sick employees back to work faster.'
