Key Summary
- Healthwatch England warns more patients are turning to NHS private care to avoid long waiting times.
- The shift is mostly among higher-income patients, raising fears of a two-tier healthcare system.
- Experts urge the government to cut NHS waiting times and better support patients while they wait.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of patients availing private sector services, as the confidence in accessing timely NHS hospital services remains low, says a Healthwatch survey.
Nearly four in ten (39 percent) people cited long waits this as their main reason for choosing private care. While in 2023, the most common reason for private care was perceived better quality (37 percent).
Only 32 percent said they were confident in getting timely hospital outpatient treatment, a marginal increase from 28 percent in 2023.
Confidence remains particularly low for timely access to non-urgent operations, 22 percent, and scans and diagnostics, 28 percent.
Nearly one in seven people (16 percent) used private services such as non-urgent treatment and diagnostic tests in the past year, almost double the proportion in 2023 (9 percent).
Other reasons people gave for going private included better quality of care, 31 percent, convenience, 30 percent, and being ineligible for the procedure on the NHS, 20 percent.
Although the NHS waiting list has fallen slightly over the past year, an estimated 6.13 million people were waiting for planned care at the end of January 2026, including 2.7m people of whom had been waiting longer than 18 weeks.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman told BBC that improvements were being made with waiting lists down to their lowest level for nearly three years.
As per the Private Healthcare Information Network date, nearly 950,000 operations and treatments were carried out in the private sector last year in the UK, BBC reports.
Many also approach private care for speedy tests and scans, which gets done in under 48 hours, while the NHS needs minimum six weeks.
They also approach private care for weight management, mental health support and many other services.
However, income plays a major role in choosing private care. Only 10 percent people earning under £20,000 used private care, compared with 35 percent of those earning £80,000 or more.
The Healthwatch had commissioned Savanta to poll 2,593 adults to understand people’s use of NHS and private healthcare.
