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Would you bother??
I'm lucky enough not to have a completely desk bound job, one which involves sport and being out and about in the hills a lot. if i injury myself through work or play, it would have a big impact on my ability to do my job.
While I've every confidence that the NHS will give me excellent initial care, in the event of a broken bone for example, I'm aware that waiting lists for physio etc can be long.
I've had a quote for a touch over £40/month - seems a lot, esp over a year, but it's a lot less than 2 months without work... the policy looks pretty comprehensive - no limits on the number of specialist appointments you can have etc. it's with aviva FWIW
I'm just having dental work done at the moment - i called a few NHS dentists and was told that either they had no new patient spaces, or i could get an appointment in 6 weeks - i had tooth ache when i called, not 6 weeks later, so i went private and got seen within 2 days, and was able to reschedule the next appointment with 1 working day's notice, with the new appointment 3 days later.
if my experience with dental care is indicative with the rest of the NHS, it almost seems like a no-brainer (assuming i decide that i can afford it).
anyway, if you're an I struggle with long sentences type;
private medical care - worth it or not?
Like any type of service, worth it if you use it. Everyone's experience differs, and I am lucky that i've not needed the services of the NHS that much in my life, but when I have needed the NHS i've had a sterling service. Yes the odd time i've had to use A&E i've had to wait a few hours, but that's a small price to pay and i've had great service once i've been seen to. So for me I don't consider private health care to be worth the investment. However there are quite a few people at work who have used the company that gives us a discount for various things and they have had amazing service, so they'd say absolutely.
I have had private dental before via Denplan. Again it was very good, but i've now gone back to NHS as, again, for me I didn't feel I was getting my money's worth as thankfully my washers are pretty good too.
So maybe in summary if you're in good health with good nashers then maybe not, but if you're not so blessed in the health and dental front then yes it is.
For Physio you could just pay for each session if you ever need it. We provide private physio to our staff as it's better to pay for that then staff go off work or take longer to get back after an injury.
Working overseas I have had private health insurance for my family and I for a while now.
The last post the insurance cover wasn't as good as I wanted with a toddler, so didn't take it on for my wife and daughter and went with separate cover for them.
It's not cheap, that cost me 200GBP per month for them, but I knew that in an emergency, there was a private airambulance from the local SOS to get them some where a bit more civilized.
40GBP per month seems good value, but I would read that small print carefully, what is the max per claim, does it cover out patients, does it cover medicine fully.
I spent two months choosing William Russel speaking to different providers, declaring the wife's blood disorder, and then being able to get William Russel to change the conditions so they were clearer and covered us in the event of an emergency.
It all depends on the size of the premium, the likelihood of you getting ill and the cost of the most likely claim.
Basically do what the insurers do. If you feel you're less of a risk than average and could afford to pay yourself then self insure (put the premiums you would have to pay into an account and cap it at a sensible amount)
You always have the NHS as a fall back.
As for whether it's worth it - you can only ever say for sure in the future, but if you feel you're less likely to need it compared to what the insurers do then it's not, and vice-versa. So it differs for different people.
No, they won'tWhile I've every confidence that the NHS will give me excellent initial care
If you can afford it don't hesitateprivate medical care - worth it or not?
What rocketman says +1000000
Sometimes you only truly understand the value of something when you need to call upon it. In my immediate family we've had the misfortune to have had cause to use private healthcare on more than one occasion, but the good fortune to have had the cover... I'd never be without it.
Agree with Rocketman - I've got it through my work, and pay extra for the kids to be covered.
I and many of my immediate family have had the misfortune to use the NHS over the years. My Dad is alive to today because of it, my brother is following a liver transplant and I am thanks to them removing a bone tumour. My youngest and wife are thanks to the NHS treating severe sepsis.
After the NHS failed to follow up on my fractured wrist until nearly four weeks after the original break when the fragments have started to knit, my private health care insurance saw it operated and plated the next day. The NHS solution was to wait for healing, followed by osteotomy and another fracture healing. So this has saved me a few months recovery. Access to physio will be the next benefit. I have a Grade 3 separated shoulder that the NHS have not bothered to address. Again fast access to care has been a benefit for me. I have healthcare through work as a benefit in kind.
My family receives excellent oncology care on the NHS, but it seems to struggle with capacity for mainstream care.
My family receives excellent oncology care on the NHS, but it seems to struggle with capacity for mainstream care.
Sadly, this is very much my experience too.
I have Aviva healthcare through work for all the family. Includes dental and optical. The premium is £1600 per year, but I pay the tax as a benefit, so £320 or so.
Up until last year I had religiously claimed for dental and optical to try and outweight some of the cost. In the last 12 months I've had a series of back treatments culminating in spinal fusion. So I've now had my monies worth. I would have seen the same specialists and surgeons in the same hospitals, but I have just seen them a lot quicker.
The physio has been within a week of booking the appointment and I'm now due to start hydrotherapy, something which wouldn't be available through the NHS.
4 years ago my wife had a small lump on her nipple, saw her GP for a referral, saw a specialist within a week, who did mammogram, ultrasound, and pre-op checks the same morning. The specialist phone her with the results the same day, 4 days later she had an op to remove the small benign cyst.
The speed of the service is what the private healthcare pays for, not necessarily the standard of care. The NHS are still the ones to provide A&E and emergency care. The privates will put you back on your feet quicker.
The speed of the service is what the private healthcare pays for
^^ this
You see the same consultant/surgeon in a matter of days instead of months and they see it through, no cancellations or faff you're a paying customer. NHS in the morning, private in the afternoon. This is how it works
I work in the industry so I'm biased but on the occasions I've had to use it, it's been excellent. I needed treatment last year. Not life threatening but very urgent for me. NHS wait was 3 months. Going private I was seen in days.
Ditto all the above. What price time? You can fritter away months of your time in pain and nonfunctional waiting for the NHS. Bugger that. Get in, get fixed, get on.
If the benefit doesn't come with a job, I pay the premium myself.
rocketman - Member
The speed of the service is what the private healthcare pays for
^^ this for me also. Myself and my family have had excellent service from the NHS to be fair and I couldn't fault them at all. However, when you need something that has a waiting list attached such as MRI's, minor ops or peace-of-mind access to a professional quicker than the NHS provides its useful.
While I've every confidence that the NHS will give me excellent initial care
No, they won't
In my experience, they will.
I'm really on the fence with the OP's question. I have private care through work for the family (but let's not kid outselves it's a free perk... the tax liabitility is significant) but it's been useless in our recent medical history.
They used a 'pre-existing condition' clause to avoid covering a muscular issue my daughter had. Long story but i was extremely agrieved - their definition of pre-existing could seemingly be applied to virtually any mediacal condition...
Me: I've had a heart attack. Can you help?
Them: sorry, you ate a cream cake 14 years ago, which began the process of clogging your arteries, so when you took out cover 10 years ago, the condition already existed
(I may be exaggerating to make the point..)
Anyway, now sorted via NHS.
Same daughter also had a serious (life threatening) asthma attack early this year - I cannot praise the NHS highly enough for the treatment she's received, including treatment on the day & ongoing by the only consultant specialising in paediatric respiratory conditions in the UK.
I can't see how this cvould possiblity have been any better under private care (OK the walls of the hospital ward might have been more recently painted...)
On the flip side, I used the private care for investigation into cardiac arythmia a couple of years ago & doubt I would have been seen as quickly on the NHS (although I probably would have seen the same consultant)
I think you need to look very closely at what you would actually get from a private health policy.
In the UK private providers will only looked at planned procedures upto a certain level of complexity. If you are above that level or are not planned then they wont cover you because its not profitable to provide those services.
As for the quality of the care. Im really unsure that they even match the NHS for the following reasons.
1. They dont have the range of services / facilities in their hospitals for alot of condition which means you will end up in the NHS hospital for the procedure anyway.
2. The consultant will be the NHS consultant so same care one would hope
What you are really paying for is to queue jump for some conditions and maybe a private room / nicer ward to stay on.
I do all the books and practice management for our physio business so have more contact than most with clients and insurance providers. You need to really check the small print on what you are being offered. Health companies can have restrictions on total annual payout, payout for a specific service and also large excesses. Most clients seem fairly happy with their insurance but others are definitely not. I had a client recently who had payment declined. He told me he had paid in over 20k over the years and only claimed £400. An option is to just pay into a savings account instead and self pay, then rely on nhs for life threatening expensive stuff, which they normally seem quite good at.
It's nice that all you guys have had such great experiences from private health care.
Has anyone started to notice that the NHS is under-resourced, while the private sector seems replete?
You see, there's only so much healthcare to around, and if you are happy paying to push to the front of the queue, while those less well-off have to wait, what sort of person does that make you?
Alex
I think maybe it makes you someone who is reducing the burden on the nhs whilst still paying into it via your taxes. With private healthcare you are not paying to push to the front of the nhs queue.
No pushing involved in both my wife or my cases. The consultant my wife saw is private only. The surgeon I am seeing works for the NHS, but only 8 hours per week. His other time is spent on private clients. If the NHS were to fund more hours he would work more hours for them.
Equipment like MRI scanners are partly funded by the private sector. The NHS hospital rent it out because it's very profitable. Which makes ends meet. It would be lovely to only treat patients under the NHS, but they have been forced down the route of dealing with the private sector due to government funding.
Also, I still pay NI contributions.
Also, I still pay NI contributions.
Good for you as it pays for everyone's state pension.
@alex. This is the 'road tax' argument in a different dress. I pay into the NHS same as you and actually inhabit the moral high ground by choosing to pay more again elsewhere to relieve the burden on the NHS so people like you who choose not too, get to the front of the (now depleted) queue faster. I happen to get seen more quickly by non NHS staff but that's the benefit I choose to pay for.
No need to thank me, no really it's fine.
Dental work is a different issue, fwiw- if you'd been set up with an NHS dentist, you'd have been seen fast, it's just joining as a new patient that was slowing it down.
The way I see it... For a lifechanging or longterm injury, I'm not going to be in a hurry, and I had fantastic NHS physio support when I broke my hip, and when I wrecked my knee. For a short term injury, the cost of insurance very quickly adds up to be greater than the cost of a smaller number of physio sessions etc, so I'll pay for that as and when.
Loss of earnings etc is a different thing but from the healthcare point of view it's a pretty hard sell imo.
After the NHS failed to follow up on my fractured wrist until nearly four weeks after the original break when the fragments have started to knit, my private health care insurance saw it operated and plated the next day. The NHS solution was to wait for healing, followed by osteotomy and another fracture healing. So this has saved me a few months recovery
I had a similar experience in a fracture clinic (very good A&E care tho) never ever be the last person to be seen at a fracture clinic
As for the quality of the care. Im really unsure that they even match the NHS for the following reasons.1. They dont have the range of services / facilities in their hospitals for alot of condition which means you will end up in the NHS hospital for the procedure anyway.
2. The consultant will be the NHS consultant so same care one would hope
What you are really paying for is to queue jump for some conditions and maybe a private room / nicer ward to stay on
my experience is that you get to see the consultant (yes NHS) instead of one of his registrars, you aren't pushed for time, all tests that could be done were including some at NHS facilities
I now have a £10k wrist with loss of function and strength, I think the consultant tried really hard because he was frankly embarrassed about the poor assessment and treatment by the local fracture clinic