Medbelle comments on increase in UK private patients

On Friday 22 July, a leading news story reported that more people are paying for private healthcare treatment. This trend should be a prompt to think about more support for all patients, no matter how their healthcare is funded, according to Medbelle, who have been working to improve the experience of both patients and clinicians in the private healthcare sector.

Commenting on the story, Dan Howcroft, Chief Medical Officer at Medbelle, said:

‘The top priority must be to ensure that all patients in the UK can receive timely care no matter what their income.

‘Patients using both public and private healthcare need far more support. A lack of price transparency in the private system means treatment costs can vary not only by location but even from patient to patient within the same provider. At Medbelle we have found patients have saved thousands of pounds simply by providing them with price transparency. When people are using their savings on treatment, this makes a huge difference.

'Patients deserve better'

‘Meanwhile, because the private system is so fragmented, patients will often find very little support or guidance, having to research clinicians, hospitals and treatments themselves, or sort out their own appointments and other arrangements for their care. Patients deserve better, no matter how their treatment is funded. And the private system is not free from inefficiencies and unnecessary interventions, all of which increase costs which are ultimately paid by patients.

‘All patients would benefit from speeding up the digitalisation drive, which can bring efficiencies and improve outcomes for patients. We want our mission to deliver true clinical value for private patients to complement the fantastic NHS which is currently under unprecedented pressures.’