More People Turning To PMI As NHS Backlogs Continue

Amid rising NHS backlogs and a surge in demand for appointments, more people are turning to private medical insurance (PMI) to help with their immediate needs.

[Related reading: NHS Taps Private Hospitals To Deal With Waiting List Backlog]

6 Million Brits Now Waiting For NHS Treatment

Spurred by NHS backlogs and extended waiting lists, more and more people are turning to private healthcare for their immediate medical needs, new research shows.

According to a poll by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) – the results of which are outlined in the IPPR’s State of Health and Care 2022 report – the shift to PMI is a "symptom" of the NHS being under-resourced, as well as struggling to recruit and retain its workforce.

The latest NHS figures, released on 10 March 2022, show that 6.1 million referral to treatment (RTT) patients were waiting to start treatment at the end of January 2022. But as outlined in a recent post, projections suggest that NHS waiting lists in England could potentially surpass 10 million by 2024.

IPPR data reveals 31% of adults in the UK – equivalent to 16 million people – struggled to access the care they needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, around 12% leveraged some form of paid-for alternative care. One in five also considered doing the same.

Meanwhile, 17% of respondents said they would switch to private healthcare if NHS waiting queues exceeded 18 weeks from referral to beginning of treatment. The aforementioned NHS figures show 62.8% of patients had been waiting up to 18 weeks to start treatment at the end of January 2022.

Unum Witnesses Physiotherapy Appointments Demand Surge

Meanwhile, separate research by insurer Unum has shown that physiotherapy appointments booked via its Help@hand health and wellbeing app surged by 50% between December 2021 and January 2022.

This increased demand for digital physiotherapy appointments, Unum says, could be linked to musculoskeletal pain related to working from home. Unfortunately, while efforts are made to ensure employees are working as healthily and safely as possible when at home, monitoring remote working environments isn’t particularly easy for organisations.

The Unum data also revealed a spike in mental health concerns at the end of last year, with the number of mental health appointments increasing by 27% between December 2021 and January 2022. Unum also notes that more men were now seeking mental health support than previously, with the 26-35 age group most proactive at doing so.

Glenn Thompson, chief distribution officer for Unum UK, said, musculoskeletal conditions are "costly" for employers, accounting for 15% of all sickness absences in the UK.

"Working from home during the pandemic may have exacerbated these issues for workers without the ergonomic setups they'd have in the office and furniture or equipment ill-matched to their needs," he added.

[Related reading: Why Private Healthcare Could Be The New Norm For Businesses Post-Pandemic]

***

The hybrid workplace – which sees employees splitting their time between home and the office – is here to stay. And while it will help many employees improve their work-life balances, the potential for more musculoskeletal issues going forward is real.

With NHS backlogs showing no signs of abating, the role of private medical insurance has never been more prominent.