As NHS waiting lists reach record levels, more and more patients are paying for ops out of their own pockets
When Fabien needed to have a decayed tooth removed in May, his dentist told him that he would have to wait up to three years to have it done on the NHS. In disbelief, the 27-year-old from Edinburgh rang 50 dental practices but without any luck. He had no choice but to go private. Having lost his job during the pandemic, he was on universal credit and had to borrow the £600 from his family.
Fabien is one of a growing number of people without health insurance who are paying for medical treatments out of their own pocket. NHS hospital waiting lists in England have reached record levels, hitting 5.6 million this summer, as doctors struggle to clear a growing backlog caused by Covid-19. People on modest incomes, and even those claiming benefits are turning to private providers for knee or hip replacements, cataract removal or even expensive cancer treatment.