If you are seriously ill and need healthcare, you need to be seen by the best doctor for your needs. The NHS doesn’t provide this service, so most people have to pay for a private doctor. A GP or general practitioner is a highly specialized doctor who is responsible for the health of a patient for all his or her life.
Here are the private GP benefits:
A private general practitioner has more time to spend with each patient than a GP working in the NHS. This is because they don’t have to spend precious time filling out forms or dealing with red tape.
The waiting list for an appointment with an NHS GP is very long, whereas a private doctor’s surgery can see you sooner and won’t be affected by these long waiting lists.
Because they work privately, they don’t have to adhere to strict NHS budgets and therefore can offer more expensive treatments if required. They can use expensive equipment that the NHS doesn’t allow them to use, such as CT Scanners and MRI Scanners.
They can also charge for appointments that require extra attention such as fitting of dentures or removal of warts, which the NHS will usually not do.
Private health insurance is often linked with the concept of a private general practitioner, who would be accepting patients with a certain level of cover. This can be particularly useful for people who want to choose their own doctor or avoid the lengthy waiting times of government-run clinics.
Treatment at a private hospital isn’t always more expensive than public hospitals and doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to pay more. For example, most treatments for heart disease or cancer are subsidised by the government and provided free of charge in public hospitals.
One thing to consider when assessing the overall cost of your treatment is that private hospitals also provide a wider range of services than public hospitals and many general practitioners will recommend that patients see specialists if they require complex care. A private hospital will usually have specialists on staff, while a public one might not.
Some private hospitals also offer cosmetic surgery procedures such as breast enlargement and liposuction. While these procedures are not essential to life, they can improve the quality of life for some people. For those who wish to undergo cosmetic surgery, it’s worth comparing prices between private and public hospitals as sometimes there can be several thousand dollar difference in price for similar treatments.