The British are abandoning the country’s so-called “envy of the world” – the socialized and monolithic National Health Service (NHS) – opting instead for private healthcare, mostly due to record length waiting times for routine treatments.
Aviva, Britain’s largest insurance provider, saw health insurance premium sales increase by 58 percent in the first six months of 2023, with both individuals and companies looking to improve both the quality and speed of treatment and consultation.
“You see there the combination of customers [who are] worried that they may not be able to get access to health treatments when they need them,” said Aviva’s chief executive, Amanda Blanc, adding that the company is seeing enormous expansion opportunities.
Thomas Buberl, the chief executive of Aviva’s rival AXA, argued similarly that the current NHS crisis is opening “quite a few business opportunities” to increase the company’s customer base and employees. “With what is happening at the moment, probably the first choice of a doctor that is newly qualified, it would not be the NHS,” Buberl added.
More than 7.6 million Britons are waiting for medical treatment – equivalent to around 12 percent of the population – with nearly 400,000 on standby for heart conditions. Two in five patients have to wait up to 18 weeks to be seen by their general doctor.