Budget cuts to the NHS are seeming more and more inevitable over the coming years as the government begins to look at where it can start paying back the huge debt the UK is currently in. Where those cuts are likely to take hold is a hot subject for politicians at the moment with Labour MPs rejecting the recommendations of one report last week. Management consultants, McKinsey and Company proposed that 137,000 clinical and admin posts should be cut, saving the health service £20bn over the next five years. But while some people believe these sorts of roles are wasteful, the government believe that job cuts are not the way forward. Health Minister Mike O’Brien told the BBC, "The government does not believe the right answer to improving the NHS now or in the future is to cut the NHS workforce. In core frontline services like maternity, nursing and primary care we need more staff rather than fewer." Even the possibility that jobs could be lost, putting the NHS under more pressure, could be one reason why some people might get a quote for private medical insurance.


Cutting jobs is not the only suggestion for saving vital money within the NHS however. A recruitment freeze was also suggested by this latest report, as well as the possibility of medical school places being cut. This could be damaging in the long term as there could be fewer trained doctors and nurses in the future. The report also believes that £3 billion could be saved through improving staff productivity. Whatever the end solution, it seems that certain aspects of the health service will have to take priority as budgets become tighter and compromises will have to be made. Some people will not want to compromise when it comes to their health and may turn to private medical insurance to ensure themselves access to high quality treatment.