Private health insurance recommendations

[Ivf4203]

Currently pregnant and thinking of getting private health insurance for baby. We don’t get any from work but would be keen to get baby covered so if he needs seeing when he’s born he doesn’t need to wait hours in a&e. Any recommendations and how much do you pay?

A baby wouldn't wait hours in A and E. Our A and E has dreadful wait times for adults, but children's has always been very very fast when I've taken mine up.
I do have private health insurance though for me and the kids, and we're with Bupa. They have been fantastic. Never quibbled and I am possibly their worst customer - took out the insurance and then have had to claim thousands within a month of it starting.

WPA are great

Very few, if any, private paediatric a and e departments in UK, if that is your concern. You might be better putting money aside regularly as a self pay find in case you want to speed up an appointment or diagnostics.

Kids aren’t expensive to cover its adults that are.

Thank you - how much did you pay for Bupa for you and kids if you don’t mind me asking?

Bear in mind that isurance won't bypass A&E and you will still need a GP referral in order to see a consultant. It's also worth checking what private paediatric services your local hospitals offer. Unless you are in London, they can be very limited - especially for under 3's.

So we've got the all singing all dancing minimum excess policy, and for me, a 4yo and a 2yo it's £91 a month. They have been brilliant - it typically takes less than five minutes to get an appointment or treatment approved on the phone.

You need to bear in mind that you will still need a GP referral although WPA have GPs on call and you can get an online referral. ALSO private health care doesn’t cover anything chronic or ongoing.There are very few private A n Es and there are longer waiting times to get a consultants appointment these days as the NHS is referring patients to private hospitals.

Not quite the same as insurance but you could look at Beneden, it’s about €11 per month.

Thanks all! Our NHS Gp is actually very good and offers same day appointments if needed but once we are referred to the hospital the wait time is so long. My husband waited 7 hrs in a&e one time, though I appreciate he was less urgent compared to other patients. At the time, he needed an IV medication for infection which apparently can only be given in A&E. The other time, gp referred me to a dermatologist and I was offered an appointment 11 months from when my gp referred me. I was hoping through private insurance for baby, these wait times will be reduced slightly but will do further research as it might not be too bad for babies in NHS.