The private sector is looking to play an increasingly important role within the NHS, especially following the general election according to industry experts. The Chief Executive of private health provider Bupa, Ray King, told the London Evening Standard, “Whichever colour of party comes into power they will make the NHS seek higher levels of productivity and that inevitably means engaging with private health providers.” The NHS already has many contracts with the private sector, including to treat some patients which they haven’t got beds or resources to treat themselves. By seeing the NHS look to the private sector for help, which seems to be a growing pattern, the public may start to wonder whether they should go directly to a private doctor or hospital for their treatment. If so, they may wish to take out a private medical insurance policy to help make the costs more affordable.


The NHS is undoubtedly restricted by its budget from the government and this is likely to take some form of cut over the five years as MPs try to pay back some of the huge debt the country is now in following the recession. People already have the option to top up their NHS care if they so wish, which could be because they feel there is a better treatment available that the basic NHS budgets will not allow for. An ideal way to make these top ups less of a monetary issue, is to take out low cost private health cover. Cash plan policies are among the cheapest and can provide the peace of mind of traditional private medical insurance but at a fraction of the cost, meaning that they are accessible for almost every budget.

Cleanliness of NHS hospitals has taken a back seat when it comes to the public’s concerns about the NHS. A new survey carried out by You Gov on behalf of The Sun has revealed that significantly more people named putting targets ahead of patient care and postcode rationing of drugs as bigger problems in the health service than cleanliness of wards. These concerns were also backed up when the 1,747 adults who took part in the study were posed with the statement “The Government’s introduction of targets for GPs and hospitals means more effort is concentrated on targets than patient care”. Over three quarters said they either strongly agreed, or tend to agree. As MRSA rates in hospitals have reduced recently, these new concerns may be encouraging more people to take out a quote for private medical insurance than issues that have been hitting the headlines for longer.


Other issues may be more of an annoyance to those people that have witnessed or experienced problems with the NHS first hand rather than hearing about them in the media. Almost half of the people (47 percent) who took part in the You Gov survey said they had been subject to unreasonable hospital charges. Cash plan private medical insurance could provide a solution to managing some of these charges. The NHS has begun to charge people if they wish to top up their treatment to a more expensive version and cash plan policies are ideal for this sort of situation. As they pay out a lump sum to help cover the cost of treatment, it gives the patient the option as to whether they would like to be treated in a private hospital, abroad or to help cover some of these charges in a NHS clinic.

Election debates are hotting up between the Conservatives and the current Labour government and the NHS is one of the top issues. This week, two thirds of Tories voted in favour of a tax relief on private health insurance compared to only 1 percent of the Labour Party, and 5 percent of the Liberal Democrats. But the issue has created even further problems within the Conservative party over the future of the NHS, as leader David Cameron has been a longstanding supporter of the health service. The shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has said that the opposition party want to make sure that high quality healthcare services are available to people but it seems the Tories disagree on how this will be achieved.


A further two-thirds of the 150 Conservative MP’s who took part in the ComRes poll said they were in favour of people being treated partly on the NHS and partly privately paid for. This is something that is currently available to private health insurance customers who choose to top up their NHS treatment. If the Conservatives come into power at the next election, the income tax relief for private health insurance could encourage more people to enquire into quotes for health cover and take out policies. But this will depend on whether the Tories go for this option, rather than on Cameron’s current proposal to increase NHS spending above inflation, despite the government having to make inevitable cuts across the board as it attempts to pay off the country’s huge debts in the coming years. But Chancellor Alistair Darling told the Scotsman, "Tax breaks for private healthcare would take money away from the health service and undo the real progress we have made with the NHS over the last 12 years."

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.

Over 100 women in the past year have had to turn to private medical insurance because the NHS hasn’t provided drugs that could significantly improve their health. Cancer drug, Herceptin, is a very expensive treatment, costing up to £20,000 for a year’s worth and cash strapped NHS trusts in certain parts of the country haven’t been able to provide it for patients with early stages of cancer. There have also been at least two high profile cases where women have gone to the High Court to fight for the right to be treated with the drug on the NHS. Although the majority of private health insurance policies do not include the treatment of cancer among the illnesses and conditions which they will pay out for the treatment of, Herceptin is just one drug which the health service won’t readily provide for patients, mainly due to the cost.


Top-ups are just one way in which more expensive treatments are now available, partly on the NHS. Until last year, if patients wanted to be treated with a drug not provided by the NHS, they would have to foot the whole cost. Since then the law has changed and patients can now pay the extra cost on top of what the NHS will pay towards medication. Cash plan private medical insurance, like the policies offered by Freedom Healthnet are ideal for paying for NHS top-ups. At a very low monthly premium, they are an affordable way of having access to more expensive, but often faster acting and innovative treatments.

Services provided by cash plan private medical insurance will see a surge in demand over the next ten years. That’s just one of the predictions made by the SMF Health Project, a group which has been looking at the NHS over the past two years and making recommendations to help keep the service sustainable in the future. This expected rise in demand for private medical health insurance surrounds the move by the government to allow patients to pay to top up the level of care they receive on the NHS. This was forbidden until about a year ago, when instead patients would have to foot the full cost of treatment if they wanted to upgrade their level of care. Cash plan private health cover, like the policies offered by Freedom Healthnet are perfectly suited for people who want to pay a bit extra for their health care on the NHS. They offer a very low cost monthly premium as well as making it a lot easier for those people who wish to pay extra for their treatment. Illness is unpredictable, so while we may have enough spare income to afford such treatments at the minute, private medical insurance is a good back up in case a person’s financial situation is not the same when illness arises.

The Social Market Foundation, which has compiled the report on the NHS, has said that a lot of changes must be made. They say that whilst the NHS must remain free to access and paid for by taxation, important financial savings must be made by changing from a primarily central government controlled service to one which varies locally. This will inevitable mean that some areas will end up with more efficiently run services than others and some people may find that they wish to look into getting a private health insurance policy to guarantee them access to top quality healthcare no matter where they live or work.

So, how could health insurance from Freedom help you with NHS Top Ups?
Mrs A from London is diagnosed with breast cancer. She has private medical insurance with Freedom Healthnet and contacts the claims department. Upon confirmation of her condition by her consultant and approval of her claim, she receives a payment of £4,500*, tax-free. Mrs A decides to have her surgery on the NHS and keeps the money. She decides she wants to top up her NHS treatment by paying for a specific drug and uses the money paid to her by Freedom to fund this.

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*Please note: amounts are approximate

With the announcement this month from the Department of Health, allowing us to top-up NHS treatment, private health insurance companies across the UK are looking for ways to address this new market. The move means that patients may now be able to put money towards the cost of their healthcare if the NHS refuses to pay for all of it, for example where a particularly expensive drug might be concerned, previously subject to approval by NICE. Before, if a patient wanted to contribute, they would have had to fork out for the cost of the entire treatment; something that would have been too expensive for most people. But, while the majority of insurers are working to develop a private medical insurance policy to help people out in this situation, Freedom has a ready made NHS top-up solution that you can access straight away.

As a health insurance provider that offers cash upon approval of inpatient claim, Freedom’s policies work slightly differently to traditional health insurance. Instead of paying directly to the private hospital or facility where you received your surgery, Freedom gives you a cash lump sum which then enables you to use the money as you see fit. So, if you wanted to be treated in a private clinic then you could, but you could also choose to be treated by the NHS and use the money to top up the treatment that you would have received on the NHS. Freedom’s Gold Essential health insurance policy would be ideal, if you just wanted to be covered for this eventuality. Premiums start at just £10.88 per month and give you access to up to £30,000 of in-patient cover.

More information about health insurance & NHS Tops Ups.