To think Rishi has made it clear he has private health provision

[Kinnorafron]

After 13 years of Tory destruction of the health service I can see why - but what about people who can't afford it?

Of course he does!! We do & we’re an ordinary family albeit comfortable financially.

But there is still a burden on the NHS.
Your ridiculous extrapolation to individual treatment decisions is logical - those are not the same questions.
It is far from certain that wealth automatically means you'll have private cover.
I recently met a consultant who refuses to do any private work as he says he feels he owes the NHS.

Exactly this.

Let's not allow this to be the talking point instead of an actual discussion about what he's going to do with the NHS for those who do need to rely on it.

You aren't the Prime Minister.

A private practitioner should still be employed on the nhs. I wouldn’t see one who wasn’t!!

So why didn't he just come out and say it?

It’s his private life. We are not entitled to know the ins and outs of it

I agree that we should be hearing his plans for sorting out the NHS and social care. I don’t care what his family arrangements are.

Well, duh! But I’m trying to say why wouldn’t he if ‘regular’ families do? Would you expect a PM to be down at their local GP’s surgery?

What are you expecting op?

Do you think he should turn up at 8am and wait in the local surgery?

Do you expect it of other country leaders, what do you think Joe Biden and others have for medical care, or just for U.K.?

I don't know why everyone is making such a fuss about private healthcare provision. I had it as a student (way back in 1979) when doing my year abroad as part of an MFL degree. I think it cost something like GBP 125 for a year.
I currently live in an EU country where healthcare is "private" - except that it isn't really.

Those, who are employed, pay a % of their monthly earnings to a designated agency (often associated with their area of work) or to their employer's healthcare scheme. The employer matches this contribution. If you earn under a certain amount per year, that is it. You can take out additional cover yourself, but most people do not.

If you earn over a certain sum, the above still applies BUT you get to choose the best cover for your circumstances from amongst the private healthcare agencies. Premiums vary according to your "risk", the number of claims, your excess etc. To give a concrete example, I have an annual excess of €1200, but an annual premium rebate of around €1000. Consequently I generally just pay the bill myself (very rarely go to the doctor's, but currently having some dental work done) as it wouldn't be more than €1200 over a year and is mostly covered by the rebate anyway (or I make a bit of a profit).

Medical bills that you pay yourself and for which you are not reimbursed are also tax deductible.

I could shop around for the best deal - currently have a really good one at just over €510 per month - for those of you astounded at the cost, a colleague of mine, who is a couple of years younger than I am, pays nearly double.

The only real difference is you pay your monthly contributions directly to an admin agency.

There are national, regulated scales of charges for work/treatment, that doctors and dentists apply to their billing - all of which are transparent. In addition, you generally get an itemised treatment and cost plan in advance.

But on a cautionary note, there is no bottomless pit of money. My best friend was working in Switzerland and was diagnosed with cancer. The maximum amount his insurance would have paid out on treatment was CHF 2 million. Sadly his cancer was not reversible and he died.

Exactly.

I’m finding it a bit odd that he has such perfect teeth, after the line-up of snaggletoothed yellow grins that have adorned prime ministers hitherto. I was wondering if he’s planning to extend this kind of dentistry to all of us.

I am no Tory, but I'd judge him if he didn't have probate healthcare tbh. If you have that much money and can afford to use the private system then why wouldn't you? If only to be one less person using the NHS?

I also wouldn't be discussing my healthcare on tv either.

That would be true if private healthcare was a separate entity but private healthcare takes resources from the NHS every day. Same consultants, same theatres, same equipment.

So Joe Bloggs can not have his consultation or operation if that consultant or surgeon is working privately, using the NHS theatre that morning. However if Joe could pay private he could be operated on in the same hospital, in the same theatre, by the same surgeon a whole lot quicker than waiting on the NHS.

Honestly that's a bit of a ridiculous statement. Many many middle class families have private medical cover through work packages or through choice.
Most families who can afford it will absolutely pay for it rather than play the appointment lottery for themselves and their kids.
He's a very wealthy man with a young family and a busy job. To complain about him paying for something that many many families also pay for is a bit bonkers.

But private care does use NHS resources.

This. Bloody obvious.

lots of people get health insurance via work. Working in local government I don’t.

I really don’t care what he chooses.

My mum had her cancer discovered after years and years of NHS muddling along when a NHS doctor recommended she book herself into a private hospital for a full MOT. She was in surgery less than a week later.

Well it takes a family off a potential waiting list.
My husband was a lawyer with a big city firm - private health insurance was part of the package for all of them.

Pay in NHS does not reflect the skills required for the job. There’s also the issue with the pensions that affects consultants and GPs.

All the doctors I know that work part privately would not be spending that time doing additional NHS work if private income were not an option

Yes, and good for him. People who cna afford to use private absolutely should as it's better treatment, better service and relieves the burden on the NHS.

Joe Biden is irrelevant - the USA is a completely different country and they don't have the NHS. I guess if he did have to use the NHS there would be an incentive to improve it - although he'd likely get some priority treatment.
I find it worrying so many people seem to feel it's just normal to jump the queues if you have the cash.
As for employers offering cover - that's not altruistic or benevolent is it? They need to jump the queues too if you are ill so you can get back to work and cost as little as possible in sick pay.

Private healthcare also adds to the hospital coffers. They could never be completely separated. Someone going private doesn't make the NHS wait any longer and that's what important. Also you can hire a private ambulance and VIPs are prioritised anyway. Unison do a good deal on private cover and dental plans. I agree that this is taking off what we should be discussing and critical of.

Someone going private doesn't make the NHS wait any longer and that's what important. How is this the case when the same consultant does the treatment?

@FelicityFlops I’m open to discussions around healthcare provision but that doesn’t change the basic fact that here in the UK we don’t have the infrastructure to support even that right now. You could implement a hybrid system right now and very little would change. There’s 100k+ vacancies in the NHS so to manage demand those shortages would just transfer to a private provider.

There’s a lack of honesty, RS could even have gone all in and recommend people do as he does because of the issues the NHS is facing but he didn’t. Basically he/the tories aren’t interested in suffering, those who can afford it are already turning to private resources those who can’t would probably break the private system too if the government introduced affordable and subsidised plans.

This! NHS hospitals allow use of their facilities for private care because they desperately need the income. Most of the NHS hospitals which provide the best NHS care are able to do so because of the amount of income they gain from private patients which is then put towards NHS care

OP it’s nowhere near as clear cut as you think