Complaints from patients about NHS GPs have rocketed in the past year. Nearly 40,000 people weren’t happy with the service in the last 12 months, which is an increase of 12 percent. The rise in the number of complaints has coincided with the controversial change in out of hours care brought about back in 2004 which has come under fire a number of times since. The changes meant that Primary Care Trusts are now in control of the provision of GP health services in the evenings and at weekends rather than GPs themselves and gave physicians the choice to opt out of working the extra hours in favour of a £6,000 pay cut. The majority chose the wage drop and the NHS has been criticised since for mistakes made by out of hours doctors. This large number of complaints may signal a rise in the number of people taking out quotes for private medical insurance to gain access to private healthcare services.


The figures, which have been released by the NHS Information centre, show that the category which received the largest amount of complaints was clinical care. Almost 15,000 cases were reported where such instances as failure to refer a patient correctly to a consultant occurred. It is this sort of experience that may encourage people to look for an alternative to NHS treatment such as private health care to help avoid these errors. Private hospitals are much less busy and under less pressure than their NHS counterparts which reduces the chance that mistakes will be made and a higher quality of care to be possible. Private health insurance is a more affordable way of catering for private treatment, rather than forking out for the often large one off bills.

Cash plan private medical insurance has been taken up by increasing numbers of employers. In 2006, corporate health insurance accounted for 8 percent of the market, but in 2008 this had risen to 13 percent according to Mintel. A report by Laing and Buisson found that the number of cash plans provided by companies increased 29 percent in 2008, bringing the total to 378,000. Stephen Duff, deputy chief executive at HSF told All Business, “When company finances are tight a health cash plan voluntary scheme doesn't cost the company anything. And it gives employees the opportunity to buy a cash plan at the corporate rate instead of the consumer rate, which is around 40% more.”


These figures prove that businesses in the UK are recognising the many benefits of having private health cover for their staff. Greater efficiency is just one of these, as staff who become ill can be treated in a shorter time and therefore return to work more quickly than what they might have done being treated on the NHS. By offering private health insurance for employees, companies can even attract higher calibre of staff and have a higher quality production as a result. Loyalty amongst employees is also something that comes about as a result of providing private health cover. The Laing and Buisson research also found that 88 percent of people who have a cash plan policy value the core benefits, so this could make it an even more worthwhile investment. Stephen Duff says that people can often put off going for medical checks because of money worries. “However, when they have budgeted for their health through a cash plan they go for more regular check-ups, which means that they are less frequently off sick, which is better for them and therefore for their company.”

The private healthcare sector could help to solve the debate of how to deal with the NHS, says the group chief executive at one of the UK’s biggest health insurance providers. Speaking at the Conservative Manifesto Conference, head of AXA UK Nicolas Moreau, said, “Preserving and protecting the NHS should be at the forefront of Government policy but this comes at a cost. A future government will need to choose between a defined level of healthcare cover that should be provided by the NHS and what needs to be paid for by patients through top ups. The private sector has many solutions that will help.” The NHS is always a popular subject for politicians vying for public support, and with an election coming up in the next few months, the state of healthcare in the UK is almost certainly going to be brought to the forefront of party campaigns.


Increasing numbers of NHS patients are already being treated in private healthcare facilities in one controversial method of dealing with a shortage of beds. Other patients who are not happy with the level of care offered by the health service, are choosing to upgrade their treatment with the top ups mentioned by Moreau, and this is something that looks like is going to become even more popular as the NHS becomes even more limited by its budget. Cash plan private health insurance is ideal for covering the cost of topping up NHS treatment because it is much cheaper than other forms of private health insurance and is designed to supplement the NHS.

Back pain sufferers and other patients with musculoskeletal complaints may be persuaded to take out a quote for private health insurance after it was revealed that over half of patients have to wait over six weeks for physiotherapy on the NHS. An investigation carried out by Health Insurance and Protection magazine has found that only forty percent of the 126 out of 152 primary care trusts that were included in the study had waiting times of less than six weeks. That’s despite the fact that patients with back pain have a much higher likelihood of returning to work if they are treated within a four to six week time bracket. Employers may find that they prefer to cover their staff with corporate private health insurance if it means that they can beat the queues and return to work in a shorter period of time. Some sufferers face waits of over eighteen weeks in nine primary care trusts across the UK.


Occupational health treatments are not covered by all private health insurance policies so it is important to check the list of benefits of each provider and level of cover whilst comparing policies. Freedom Healthnet offers physiotherapy on all levels of its private health cover, even the most basic policy, and because they are cash plan policies they can be over half the cost of those from other providers. Back problems are a huge cost to businesses in the UK, causing employees to take nearly five million days off work every year. Physiotherapy won’t be able to help all of these problems, but by providing near-immediate access to this treatment, companies could significantly help to cut the number of days lost to sickness and improve the efficiency of their workforce.

Many companies in the United States are becoming less satisfied with their private health insurance providers, according to one of the latest surveys. PricewaterhouseCoopers have found that the recession has caused many American companies to look again at the private health cover they are offering for their employees. The two main things that bosses said they would like to see improve is better information and more value. One way in which they might decide to improve their private health insurance policy is to consider swapping to another provider or a different type of policy. The easiest way to do this is to get a quick and simple quote on the internet.


It is not only companies in the United States that are looking to save money across all their everyday costs. Businesses in the UK have also been hit by the recession, and many of them may have considered cash plan private medical insurance as an alternative to the traditional policy that they may already provide for their staff. Cancelling cover altogether will undoubtedly save the most money but the benefits of having corporate private health insurance could be worth the expense in the long term. The businesses who took part in the PricewaterhouseCooper study felt that there was a lot of waste in their private health cover. Cash plan insurance is a more cost effective policy and could give employees a similar access to private health care facilities but at a fraction of the cost.