Amid record NHS backlog, country sees a surge in patients self-funding vital ...

Amid record NHS backlog, country sees a surge in patients self-funding vital ...
Amid record NHS backlog, country sees a surge in patients self-funding vital ...

Growing numbers of patients are paying for life-saving surgery because of huge NHS waiting lists.

Private providers say demand for ‘self-funded’ operations has soared since the start of the pandemic.

Alarmingly, some patients feel they have to pay for heart operations that can cost as much as £20,000. A record 5.3million people are awaiting NHS treatment, some for as long as two years.

Growing numbers of patients are paying for life-saving surgery because of huge NHS waiting lists (stock image)

Growing numbers of patients are paying for life-saving surgery because of huge NHS waiting lists (stock image)

The revelations came as:

Ministers said young people could be offered free coffees and cinema tickets for having a Covid jab; Plans for a travel ‘amber watch list’ were hanging in the balance amid fears it could ruin family holidays; Jacob Rees-Mogg joined a Tory revolt against vaccine passports; Figures showed the average age of Covid patients in intensive care had plunged by ten years thanks to jabs; New virus cases dropped to 24,470 and weekly infections fell by 30 per cent; Lorry drivers were offered bonuses of £3,000 in a bid to end bin collection delays caused by the ‘pingdemic’.

Health officials are increasingly alarmed by the scale of the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic. It is affecting everything from hip and knee replacements to cancer and heart procedures.

Charities say increasing numbers of patients who have been waiting for months are now choosing to go private ‘as a last resort’, with some considering taking out loans.

Britain’s largest private hospital group, HCA, said there had been an increase in ‘higher acuity care’ since the start of the pandemic – including a 20 per cent increase in ‘self-funded cardiothoracic inpatient procedures’.

Private providers say demand for ¿self-funded¿ operations has soared since the start of the pandemic (stock image)

Private providers say demand for ‘self-funded’ operations has soared since the start of the pandemic (stock image)

This includes operations on the heart and chest such as heart bypass operations, which can cost £17,500, having a valve replaced (£20,000) or inserting a stent.

The group also reported a 30 per cent increase in self-funded neuroscience procedures, such as those on the spinal cord and brain.

Spire Healthcare, the UK’s second largest private provider, reported that the number of inquiries from self-pay patients was up by 29 per cent from March 2020 to March this year.

Areas seeing the greatest demand included urology, which covers treatment of the prostate, bladder and kidneys, and gastroenterology – the stomach and digestive system.

£10k for a private op or a 2-year NHS wait 

Steve Cooper paid £10,000 for a hip replacement at the end of May to avoid waiting two years on the NHS.

The former design engineer, 71, had been diagnosed with arthritis in his right hip and had already waited a year for a referral before the start of the pandemic.

Frustratingly, his consultant retired without putting him on the official waiting list so he had to start the process again.

Mr Cooper, who is married with two grown up children, said his doctor told him he could be ‘waiting about two years’. He said: ‘There were constant aches and pains. It was preventing me from going downstairs, doing the gardening, getting outside the house. It was difficult to drive the car.

Steve Cooper (pictured) paid £10,000 for a hip replacement at the end of May to avoid waiting two years on the NHS

Steve Cooper (pictured) paid £10,000 for a hip replacement at the end of May to avoid waiting two years on the NHS

‘I was told it could be two years and I couldn’t be hanging around for that amount of time. So I went private.’

Mr Cooper, who lives in Penrhyn Bay, North Wales, added: ‘There was no other option.’

He says he is now able to do all the activities he used to do several years ago. He added: ‘It was quite expensive but I’m fine, back to normal now. It worked very well.’

He can now walk ‘normally’ again, adding: ‘I’ve got no sticks nor crutches nor anything.’

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