Patients in the UK are not the only ones who are being tempted to take out a private medical insurance policy. The doctors who treat them in NHS hospitals are also opting for private health cover. Nearly half of NHS consultants (41 percent) decided to upgrade their medical care according to a survey carried out by Bupa. Critics have said that they are displaying no confidence in the quality of the NHS but the British Medical Association has defended the consultants’ decision. The BMA’s Consultants’ Committee’s Deputy Chairman said, “Consultants may also like the anonymity of private care. One of the problems of being treated in the NHS is that Consultants might find themselves in a bed next to one of their patients”.


This statement makes up one of the underlying reasons why some of the millions of people in the UK have private medical insurance to give them affordable access to private healthcare. It is not always that the NHS provides a substandard level of care; it is that private healthcare has that little extra something. Whether that means that you can be seen in a shorter time, whether you are guaranteed a private room to yourself or whether your visitors can have access to free parking, private hospitals offer a little luxury that may be more appreciated at that time when you are not feeling your best. Feeling more comfortable in your surroundings may even help you to recover more quickly than you might have done otherwise.