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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you prefer a job with private healthcare offered

73 replies

justasking111 · 02/01/2023 12:49

Say there were similar jobs going you applied and got two offers. Would you take the one that had a private healthcare package.

YABU the government need to provide free healthcare at point of need

YANBU I am concerned enough to take advantage of private health care to take the job for peace of mind it brings

OP posts:
Helpmesortit · 02/01/2023 12:51

I did!

lieselotte · 02/01/2023 12:52

I have private healthcare cover with work.

But I think offering access to a private GP would be even more valuable. GPs are the gatekeepers to health services, so access to a GP is really crucial.

SomethingAboutNothing · 02/01/2023 12:52

If they were equal in every other way and I got a good vibe from both, then yes it would make sense to pick the one with private healthcare. You don't have to use it, but knowing you can if you need referring for something via your GP is a big benefit.
I work for the NHS though so it's not going to happen to me any time soon! But in the past I have had it and used it, the service was great.

Wishawisha · 02/01/2023 12:54

lieselotte · 02/01/2023 12:52

I have private healthcare cover with work.

But I think offering access to a private GP would be even more valuable. GPs are the gatekeepers to health services, so access to a GP is really crucial.

Yes I had this (private GP at work) for years, it was great.

GolfEchoRomeoTangoIndia · 02/01/2023 12:56

All other things being equal, probably yes. But do do your sums to work out how much it's going to cost you in tax.

We've had very good service from our GP, and the NHS generally, but even so, I'm sufficiently concerned about the situation that I've added my teen DCs onto my work health plan this year just in case.

FfeminyddCymraeg · 02/01/2023 12:56

Absolutely. I’ve been using private healthcare for a few years now and wouldn’t be without it. I would have to balance the cost of taking it out again privately, if a new employer wasn’t going to provide it and offset that against any pay increase.

Thriwit · 02/01/2023 12:57

I have private healthcare (including GP) with work. I’ve told recruiters recently that I wouldn’t consider any new job that didn’t have private healthcare. Most have told me that the majority of people they speak to are saying the same.

MarshaBradyo · 02/01/2023 12:58

We get private with work and yes I’d take that although other factors will be relevant - location etc

MavisMcMinty · 02/01/2023 13:01

I was a nurse for 35 years. In the late 1990s I had a young patient with a massive metastasis in her lung from an unusual cancer, sarcoma or melanoma or something. She saw the thoracic surgeon who told her it would be 8 weeks before he could resect the tumour. Her aghast parents said “We have private health insurance” and the surgeon said “Great! We’ll get her into the Wellington on Saturday.”

Over the next 13 years, the Labour government brought down all waiting lists to a maximum 18-week wait for any and all treatment to start, and BUPA etc adverts stopped being shown on telly, there was absolutely no need for private healthcare beyond convenience and better food.

Now we’re in an even worse state than we were at the dreggy end of the last (Major) Conservative government, the Tories have been on a mission to destroy the NHS to further enrich their cronies and donors and unlike everything else they’ve done since 2010 they’ve actually been successful at killing the one true British religion - the brilliant NHS. They’ve starved it to death. RIP.

Margarita45 · 02/01/2023 13:01

I’ve always had private healthcare, used it a few times and the service has been great. It’s not been good for DCs though - it’s a postcode lottery as to whether you can access paediatric consultants. Even with the major insurers.

I work in the employee benefits and the trouble with PHI though is the more people have it and use it, the more it will cost - premiums are increasing yearly. So it’ll be interesting to see the changes in the private market in the coming years and whether companies reduce the access to it.

I’d probably only consider a role with at least private outpatient cover.

MarshaBradyo · 02/01/2023 13:03

Just to add we’ve barely used it as NHS has been easier and quicker generally

But it’s still good to have and we did use it for something with top consultant

WeWereInParis · 02/01/2023 13:04

The YABU option is obviously true as well. But if everything else was equal, I'd take the job with private healthcare. I have private healthcare with private GP as well at the moment (through work) and it's been great.

FromTheFront2theBack · 02/01/2023 13:05

All else being equal then yes although remember usually it's a taxable benefit so you'll pay more tax as a result of it. DH's work includes an option for private health and dental and it's been useful.

StealingYourWiFi · 02/01/2023 13:06

I have it (also work in it) it’s been fantastic for me.

lieselotte · 02/01/2023 13:32

I think it's well worth paying the extra tax for peace of mind. I've been lucky enough to have it in nearly all my jobs, though I've only ever used it once, the only other time I needed something looking at, the NHS was fine (though this was pre-covid in about 2018).

I have access to a private GP with my current cover though only by video call (not sure what happens if you need to be examined). A service which gave you access to a face to face GP is particularly worthwhile.

Original poster
justasking111 · 02/01/2023 19:21

Talking to two business owners over Christmas I asked if they had considered offering private healthcare to employees. The cost with AXA £25 per month per person. The cost to employers with staff off sick unable to access a GP quickly so lengthening their absence far higher. To me it's simple arithmetic. Unfortunately the business owners were men, I'd be interested to see female bosses take on this.

OP posts:
ILoveeCakes · 02/01/2023 19:44

The NHS is for the poors these days. God bless em.

Professional classes get private healthcare. Along with their long standing "normal" of getting extra holiday.

DrMarciaFieldstone · 02/01/2023 19:51

Private healthcare is (and has always been) in a majorly different league to the nhs. It’s an amazing benefit if you can get it. I’ve been lucky to have it since entering finance after graduation, and it also covers immediate family. I’d purchase it myself now if it was no longer provided by work.

DrMarciaFieldstone · 02/01/2023 19:52

Also - this includes a private face to face GP service - it would be worth it for this alone.

Topsyturveymam · 02/01/2023 20:00

When I was younger I didn’t really take much notice in the health packages available with employment.
However, in the last 10 years I’ve needed 3 operations. I’ve got the operations done with a couple of weeks each time using my health insurance. Some friends needing similar ops have had to wait much much longer - and this was before the pandemic.
I’m at the point where I’d never consider being without private health insurance now….either through an employment contract or by buying my own cover.

taxguru · 02/01/2023 20:08

Yes, definitely. Not just for your own health benefit, but your future colleagues will be off work less (they'll get operations/treatments etc more quickly), so you won't be forever having to work your arse off to cover for absent colleagues for months.

There's a reason that so many employers offer private healthcare - it's to reduce time off due to health issues. It gets staff back to work quicker and reduces their time off generally (i.e. more convenient appointments etc).

RiderOfTheBlue · 02/01/2023 20:09

I have private health cover through work. Never needed to use it yet but it does give me some peace of mind. Also have access to two different free private GP services. I'd be reluctant to give this up in the current climate.

taxguru · 02/01/2023 20:12

@MavisMcMinty

a maximum 18-week wait for any and all treatment to start

What they said and the reality is VERY different. My FIL waited nearly a year for his operation re his pancreatic cancer, meaning it was done far too late to save him. Just a catalogue of NHS lies and incompetence, including moving him between hospitals/consultants to "re-start" the clock. Same with my mother and her cancer - 9 months before the operation. It's very disingenuous to make out that the waiting list targets were met when in reality, they were fiddled.

DomesticShortHair · 02/01/2023 20:16

I get it with work and it includes my DP, for which I pay a small monthly fee. It didn’t affect my decision to take the job or not in the slightest. Although I have it, I won’t use it, and my DP hasn’t so far. However, it counts as a benefit in kind, so it does affect my tax.

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 02/01/2023 20:20

I have it with work and it's invaluable atm. I've had a rash on my face for months now and the gp wasn't very helpful so I went private. Also can get gp appointments easier and quicker. I used to feel like why should I need it but now I just use it.