Wife and I live in inner-east London (unfortunately) and we are bumping into NHS rationing. Fortunately we can afford to look at other options (within reason), but apart from Bupa I have never heard of any other private health provider and I’m not sure where to begin or what I should be looking for/asking about.

There’s nowt wrong with us, but we do need to get into see a GP and the NHS rationing is making that seem like an unlikely prospect given our status within our area.

Who has private health care, is it v. expensive and is it worth it?

Private healthcare IME didn’t replace GP, you still need to see your GP, then get a referral to see a private consultant.

Also, be careful what you sign up for – especially be wary of the exclusions. I was all ready to sign up for my own policy (having lost a company one by moving jobs) when I noticed that it wouldn’t cover me for sports injuries (which was the main reason I wanted it in the first place!)

Dave

Could shortage of provision be as a result of those who can afford it creaming off service from the NHS?

You could think about this.

APF

Creaming what exactly… They are entitled to use the nhs…. If you mean denying the nhs doctors then you should look into what doctors have to offer before doing private care

How does this NHS rationing work. Can you really not get an appointment with a gp?

Why do you need to see a Gp if youre not ill,

lots of drop in and walkin centres available for a chat/treatment,

also a lot of pharmacies offer advice and basic medicines,

why not change surgeries or ask to to speak to the practice manager,or appointments manger and styatye youre not getting an appointment to suit your needs

but we do need to get into see a GP and the NHS rationing is making that seem like an unlikely prospect given our status within our area.

Not sure what that means ??

we have one via work run by a company called westfield health, costs £6 a month basic. Still see GP first but have used various (private) bods recommended by his surgery for certain injuries, good if you want it done quickly. Send the claim form off with receipts and they pay by BACS really quickly, no quibbling (best to have GP’s ok to name him on form and the bod must be qualified in whatever they are delivering). I have certainly got my moneys worth in the 2 years I have had it. There are limits on what you can claim based on cover, I only have basic but as an example this was still good for £150 worth of (6) chiro sessions for a knackered back,which worked wonders. I kind of resented having to go down this route for obvious reasons, probably same as you, but it has been okay really. Hope this helps

Definitely worth it. I needed a bit of surgery this month and in the time its taken for state care not to even write to me with an appointnent ive had two private appointments, pre anasthetic tests, surgery and 5 days of recovery. I wouldn’t have been able to work till it was done, which I was told could be up to a year waiting.

My understanding is that it is basically an insurance policy. Our work one was offered by the Pru but now by BUPA.

You still need to see your GP but tell them you have insurance and they will refer you privately. It seems the people they refer you to are pretty much the same as you get on the NHS but you jump the queue.

If this is the case then it is more about the policy wording than the company as you don’t get BUPA doctors or Pru doctors. I may be wrong though.

I have private healthcare for me and my dependants included as part of my salary package. It doesn’t replace your usual GP / A&E services as you do need a referral from your GP to see a consultant (which you choose).

Ours is provided by Axa PPP and has proven to be excellent whenever I’ve used them. Certainly substantially cheaper than BUPA when I looked into it a while ago.

Another vote for axa PPP

Probably because PPP actually audit what hospital/consultants are charging. BUPA, in my experience don’t. I was once charged, when I had BUPA health care, £800 for “dressings” – a pair of paper pants! This would of course have been covered by the insurance, but still…
PPP on t’other hand have recently found an anaesthatist at a local private hospital charging them for three patients simultaneously, amongst other frauds. That hospital has closed as a result of the rampant overcharging being discovered

If you need something doing, and it’s already been referred by your GP then ask them about going private. Insurance won’t cover anything pre-existing, so just pay.

We did this for my wife a few years ago, wasn’t as dear as you’d imagine. Also used private cover through work, but still needs GP referral.

Be aware with insurance policies. To quote Ned Flanders, he doesn’t have house insurance as he ‘sees insurance as a form of gambling’

Funny but a small element of truth, ie there is no guarantee policies will pay out.

Standard life here for last ten years. Thankfully only used it once but had to because I was royally let down by the Nhs when I needed them properly for the very first time. Sunday avo Knee injury about 6/7 years ago, only time I’ve been off work in 20 years. Doctors at the hospital (sun evening mon morning (in derby)) didn’t give a **** and told me I’d need an MRI to diagnose properly, waiting list at time was 6 weeks or tough luck!
I activated my policy, but as said above ,had to get referred through my gp.
Was in the big magnet 2 days later with a consultant meeting on the Thursday! 100 quid excess.

I have BUPA through work but would not pay for it myself. Simple reason I have pre-existing medical conditions that may need treatment but would be excluded unless I paid a king’s ransom to have my medical history disregarded.

My work policy is MHD so if I break again any treatment is covered.

The difference is that normally claims are underwritten – they check your medical history, ask for GP reports etc but with an MHD policy they pretty much just check that the condition you have is covered, that you have a policy in force and that’s it – doesn’t matter if you have been suffering from symptoms for years they pay for the treatment.

This really came into its own when I had been suffering from ulcerative colitis for 12 months before I joined my current company then about 6 months later needed my bowel removing.

If I just taken out a standard policy this would not have been covered as I had been suffering from the condition prior to the cover starting but with the work policy they fixed me.

So, if you are buying PHI because you think there is something wrong then that something is likely to be excluded unless you’re prepared to pay vast sums of money…

Take a look at these guys https://www.benenden.co.uk/healthcare-membership/personal-healthcare/

You lost me at ‘There’s nowt wrong with us, but we do need to get into see a GP’.

If you are sick, you need to be in the NHS. Trust me.

If you aren’t sick but want something straight forward doing (physio, a one off consult, basic low risk operation) then you could just pay upfront. This might be cheaper depending on the cost of the insurance.

If you decide to go private, go to see a doctor who also works in the NHS as this is a good guarantee that they will actually give you a good and honest opinion who isn’t Dr Nick Riveria.

Simply Health is the health insurance company provided by my employers.
Like Wrightson, I’ve used it when really required (3x!)……
The way I see it, when I use my medical insurance , I’m clearing space in the NHS for someone who isn’t lucky enough to have my works benefits.

I have no issues with BUPA, used them twice and I didn’t even see a bill, doctor was paid direct by BUPA.

I wouldn’t be without it now, especially based on the treatment (or lack of) that my GP offered me with the 2 things I went private for.

I have bupa. They plated my collarbone when the the nhs’s idea of care was ‘we are not going to do anything, you’ll still have a reasonable degree of movement in your shoulder probably. If it doesn’t heal well enough we can always look at it 9months down the line and rebreak it if we have to’ . At £40 a month I can pay for bupa for ten years and still not have paideia for the £5.5k of surgery I have had, let alone the subsequent physio on my rotator cuff which will likely end up in more paid for surgery.

If you ride bikes I think it’s a great idea.

Have Simply Health cover for me and the Mrs as a BIK through work.
I pay a bit extra to add the kids to it.

I wouldn’t be without it now – they never quibble about anything, and it usually just takes a couple of phone calls to arrange everything.

They paid for my daughter to have an operation to remove a cyst on her eyelid, it was done it a couple of weeks – NHS waiting list was 6+ months.
They also paid for genetic testing on the same daughter, to determine if the was a Coeliac – the tests were new, and not available on the NHS at the time – the alternative was to give her Gluten for a month, and do a biopsy.

If you have the means, i’d say it was worth it.

Benenden are not a full insurance scheme. And as someone who refers via them, I find their admin, restrictions and criteria for successfully allowing a referral to proceed very frustrating. I wouldn’t recommend them.

I’d also be pretty careful about private-only GPs. Can’t really say more than that.

Actually, I wouldn’t take out private insurance full stop. I’d put the money it cost monthly into a separate account, until it reached say 5-10 k. Anything which costs more than that you want done in an NHS hospital. Save yourself the large chunk of your premium which is profit and admin.

I have private health care through my work, and recently needed to use it.

And i must say before using it i always said that i would never have it if it wasn’t through my company.

How wrong i was, the service was fantastic and speedy which means alot when you are ill.

The only advice i would give is don’t use a 3rd party, especially Aviva the only issue with the entire process, was the insurance company dragging their heals for over 3months with payments.

So i would never use Aviva.

I came off my bike 2 years ago and needed an op. After around 20 weeks (you’re supposed to be seen within 16 weeks), I still hadn’t heard so contacted my GP Surgery to request that they find out when it was likely to be.

Apparently there was a backlog at the hospital but, no, I couldn’t have it done in another. This may be cos I ended up in A & E unconscious and MRI’s, CT scans, x-rays etc were done.

I ended up having it done privately (don’t have insurance) by the same NHS Consultant I saw. My name wasn’t removed from the NHS waiting list so got a call with a date … 7 months later. 😯

I personally wouldn’t bother with insurance but would put money away regularly in case.