Nearly a third of the British public believe that private medical insurance will be a popular option for people willing to top up their NHS treatment. The figure came as part of a AXA PPP survey of 2,000 people in the UK of their views of the NHS. The main results of the poll found that despite many aspects of the NHS improving, such as waiting times for treatment and cleanliness of wards, the perception of the public is much more negative view. Only 23 percent of the people who took part in the study thought that the health service is on top of cleanliness in hospitals. This is despite the fact that 95 percent of adults who have stayed in hospital recently actually said their rooms or wards were “fairly” or “very” clean. This could mean that people are getting quotes for private medical insurance to ensure that their facilities are up to the standards they expect from their hospital stay.


Over one in five people (22 percent) also believe that there will be an increase in the number of people travelling abroad for their treatment. Private medical insurance is one way that people can have access to hospitals abroad, and at a more affordable cost. Private health cover, like the policies offered by Freedom Healthnet give the patient the option as to whether they would like to be treated in an NHS hospital, where waiting times and cleanliness have improved recently, in a private hospital, where waiting times and cleanliness are guaranteed to be of high standard for those people who still doubt the health service, or in a private clinic abroad.