AIBU to not be remotely bothered that Rishi has private healthcare

[MXVIT]

I'm really not - it's an absolutely ridiculous thing for us to be getting worked up about.

He's the prime minister - of course he has private healthcare. Leaders of the country need to be fit and well and therefore need the best healthcare money can buy - we can all agree the NHS is not that - and thats a separate conversation.

By that logic lets ban all childless babysitters, all dogless dogwalkers.

Honestly as a country I feel we're that addicted to getting ourselves into a frenzy over everything that we're focussing on the wrong things.

The narrative of "the poorest of society don't have this - so NO ONE CAN" is getting more and more common lately.

Maybe if they did they'd sort out the service so that people didn't have to join the telephone lottery to get an appointment.

I’d say the reactions of the outraged are part of it, either way they are going to spin. And many don’t need those types of ‘hard questions’ from journalists. It’s just yheatri

Theatrics

If everyone who could afford private health care used it, the NHS would be freed up for those who can't, surely?

Is theatrics a slightly more intelligent version of you are just jealous?

Yeah it would be much easier without hard questions, wouldn't it?

Who is outraged, out of interest? Outraged by what?

Jealous of what?

No because there are very few private doctors in the UK who aren't also NHS doctors. And if anything goes seriously wrong they'll end up back in the NHS too, because the private sector has nothing like the trauma or accident centres of the NHS.

In general terms, the more people using private provision, the lower the capacity of the NHS, unfortunately.

@MaryMcCarthy We are not supposed to care about Rishi Sunak's continued abysmal performance.

The NHS ends up treating and correcting lots of mistakes the private sector make.

I assume most of the comments who 'don't care' whether politicians pay for private healthcare and education, are trying to justify it to use these themselves.

Well off people should have private healthcare to leave most of the NHS for the rest of us.

To me, it's a moral duty to pay for what you can afford to and to not take advantage of something that's free.

Like others have said, it's the lying.

No. Look at what has happened with NHS dentistry. Hunt all but destroyed it.

Dentists are available for those with the means to pay. Everyone else has to make do with whatever they can find, and NHS dentists are becoming ever more difficult to access.

Not an issue if you're content being a 2nd class citizen.

Or more likely in many cases, if you're content for other people to be 2nd class citizens

If I could afford private healthcare I would
go private in the same way if I could afford private schooling for children I’d send them there too

mostly because you don’t need to use the state service because you have more resources. I’d you don’t need it, don’t use it

We get it through work. It’s standard and the industry isn’t that important in the scheme of things. Friends in other sectors get more cover. Yeh I’d expect the PM to have healthcare that’s not waiting at the local GP.

The NHS has been more accessible lately anyway, with same day appointments v days.

I don't care because what people do with their money is their business.

The manner in which politicians answer questions, however, is our business.

Actually he may not have private insurance, he probably does but..... I also know quite a few folk who just save and pay as they go for private care. It's not as though he doesn't have the funds. They tend to pay for elective stuff, hips/knees, but then rely on the NHS for Cancer etc.

It's the usual damned if you do, damned if you don't. If he said he had, he is open to howls of contempt from Labour, if he hasn't he is open to accusation of using precious resource, when he could pay privately himself.

He will not need insurance. He can just pay for all his care privately. He is richer than the King.

I agree. We can see with dentistry what happens with two tier systems. A friends child has an abscess and she can't find any NHS dentist to treat her child.

Not true. Most private consultants fulfill their NHS contract hours, and then do additional hours privately.

I would judge him if he didn't have private healthcare. No point in him cluttering up an NHS bed at public expense.

YABU
If they aren’t using it they don’t know what it’s like, how frustrating it is ie they don’t care. I’d it goes, well it won’t be a problem for them will it?

@KnittedCardi There had long been concerns about some NHS consultants seeing private patients in NHS time. And people on MN have posted about how they saw a consultant privately who then helped them jump NHS waiting lists.

^^This. I somehow think our political leaders wouldn't be quite so blasé about the state of the health service if they were spending hours trying to get a gp appointment or on the phone to 111 when they were worried about their child. See also watching their mums becoming progressively more disabled as they wait for a hip replacement or their fathers being repeatedly stranded in hospital for lack of social care.

I don't mind people paying for private health insurance so they can see a gp or have minor surgery at the time of their choosing, or so they can enjoy a private room and deluxe menu, but whem that's the only way to access basic healthcare, yes that's a problem.