The number of British people opting to pay for private surgery has surged with spending doubling to £1.1bn in six years.
Widespread rationing and long waiting times have driven the 7.4% real-term growth in self-funding patients between 2014 and 2018. The number is set to continue to grow to £1.3bn by 2021.
The reports forecast by Laing Buisson also found that NHS hospitals were increasingly profiting from the treatment of private patients. The total revenue from NHS private-run units was up 3.2% to £677 million in 2018/19.
This news comes as there are around 4.4 million people on NHS surgery waiting lists, the highest number since 2007.
Full story on The Independent, 19 January 2020.
