New data reveals a sharp increase in private treatments for ailments commonly managed by the NHS, which is implementing cutbacks on funding or deeming certain operations as having ‘limited clinical value’.
Private hospitals have seen a 39% hike in cataract operations, while hernia repairs have soared by 110% and tonsillectomies by an astonishing 105%.
Statistics obtained from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) indicate that England has witnessed a 61% rise in breast reduction admissions, with circumcisions nearly doubling at a massive 118% jump.
In addition, cases of carpal tunnel syndrome addressed through private care have ascended by 64%, and adenoidectomy procedures have skyrocketed by an unprecedented 145%. These dramatic increases come after new guidelines were issued, urging NHS commissioners to reduce such surgeries.
The development of the Evidence-based Intervention (EBI) list aims to limit medical or surgical interventions that may not be beneficial for all patients under specific conditions.
Practice Plus Group hospitals’ Jim Easton, who conduced the analysis said: “It is correct that there are proper eligibility criteria to ensure that only those people who will benefit from surgery are offered it.
“However, through a combination of the COVID backlog, increasing financial pressures on the NHS, and the growing list of procedures they actively try to restrict, we have seen a marked increase in people in debilitating pain or discomfort who are perfect candidates for surgery but can’t get the referral.”
Graeme Wakerley, 71, a retired haematologist with years of service in the NHS, was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia in 2023. Unable to secure surgery through the NHS, he opted to fork out for private healthcare from Practice Plus Group’s Wellsoon.
He explained: “A scan showed that the hernia wasn’t strangulated which meant it wasn’t considered dangerous and I would not be able to get surgery to fix it.
He conveyed the blunt reality shared by his GP: “The GP explained that unless it’s strangulated, you’re in severe pain or mental anguish, there was no point in applying for funding as I wouldn’t get surgery. Even when you do get on the list meaning it’s serious and you’re in severe pain, there would be a two-year wait for hernia surgery. So, I had no choice but to pay.”
He said that this predicament wasn’t unique to him, with GPs nudging patients towards private care instead because of restrictive NHS funding criteria.
Jim emphasises the need for the NHS to keep the EBI programme focused on patient benefit, warning against it becoming a ‘postcode lottery’ with varying adoption across regions.
He also highlighted: “The knock-on effect in not offering these treatments is the gradual disappearance of specialists with enough experience in delivering them, or enough younger doctors trained to perform them.”
