{"id":375459,"date":"2025-08-26T17:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/375459\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T17:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:14:10","slug":"a-chaotic-nhs-is-why-people-now-go-private-private-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/375459\/","title":{"rendered":"A chaotic NHS is why people now \u2018go private\u2019 | Private healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frances Ryan\u2019s article rings familiar bells (Young people want to \u2018go private\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019m a lifelong supporter of the NHS, but I can see why, 20 August<\/a>). I\u00a0have been waiting 60 weeks for a partial knee replacement. The hospital website and the NHS website say \u201caverage patient waiting time 18 weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, at every stage my wait has been beset by avoidable delays: two cancelled appointments rescheduled months later, three months\u2019 delay reviewing the MRI scan, referral from one consultant to another \u2013 a \u201cnew referral\u201d \u2013 and a 12-week wait. After my first pre-op, failure to follow up on outstanding investigations necessitated a second pre-op, after which the clearance for surgery was not communicated to admissions until I pursued it, four weeks later.<\/p>\n

The current message is that they \u201cwill try to give me a date within eight weeks\u201d. A complaint to the Patient Relations Service elicited the explanation: \u201cThat\u2019s just the way we do things.\u201d Meanwhile, formal complaints elicit long-delayed responses full of nonsensical obfuscation. If the Department of Health<\/a> and Social Care is relying on waiting-list information from hospital trusts like this, then plans for NHS reform are doomed to fail.<\/p>\n

I could have had my surgery privately at the same NHS<\/a> hospital, with the same consultant, within weeks of referral. If I\u2019d gone private 14\u00a0months ago, I\u2019d probably have been able to enjoy 2025 \u2013 mobile, and drug and pain-free. Perhaps I\u2019ll\u00a0go private next time?
Ed Mason<\/strong>
Kendal, Cumbria<\/p>\n

Unlike Frances Ryan, I am fortunate to have never faced the dilemma of needing to use private healthcare because of the apparent failings of the NHS. But despite her personal circumstances I think she might reflect on the fact that individual patients buying care does have a wider impact upon other patients who may have greater clinical needs.<\/p>\n

The private physiotherapist she used may have been wholly independent, but the overwhelming majority of clinicians working in private healthcare also work part-time in the NHS. The fact that they are moonlighting, treating those choosing to pay, directly contributes to what Ryan\u00a0describes\u00a0as the NHS\u2019s \u201csky\u2011high\u201d waiting lists.<\/p>\n

In what is now very much a our \u201cme first\u201d society, it is swimming against the tide to refer to the common good. But accessing private healthcare is anything but a neutral act. It significantly worsens the prospects of those who are unable, or unwilling, to take this step, whose health problems are often considerably worse than those of the queue-jumpers.
David Hinchliffe<\/strong>
Holmfirth, West Yorkshire<\/p>\n

Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/strong>email<\/strong><\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/strong>letters<\/strong><\/a> section.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frances Ryan\u2019s article rings familiar bells (Young people want to \u2018go private\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019m a lifelong supporter of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-375459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115096195780677241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}