The NHS may actually be helping private hospitals in the UK to survive through the recession and even improve their services. This is because of the increase in the amount of NHS patients that are now being treated in private health centres, which is offsetting a downturn in the number of patients who are paying for their own treatment. One example of this is General Healthcare group, who owns one of the largest private healthcare companies in the UK, BMI Healthcare, which recorded an increase of profits of 7.6 percent over the past year despite the recession. Private healthcare, as a luxury item, could have potentially been one of the hardest hit sectors during the recession but it doesn’t seem that this has happened and private health insurance policy holders of now and the future will no doubt benefit from these facilities that are still performing well.


Private hospitals, like the ones owned by BMI Healthcare have seen a drop in the number of patients who are funding their treatment through ‘self-pay.’ One option for these people who may no longer be able to afford to pay for often very costly private healthcare is to compare private health insurance policies. One of the easiest ways to do this is through an online quote. Cash plan private medical insurance is one of the most affordable types of private medical cover and its customers get the best of both worlds. The NHS is using the private sector for four times as many procedures as it was 18 months ago according to Laing and Buisson and cash plan private health insurance gives its customers the option to be treated in by the NHS if they wish so they may even end up in a private hospital anyway. Customers can then use the money to help towards other costs incurred as a result of illness, like travel for example.