Healthcare for most UK residents is available for free on the NHS but the number of people choosing to turn to private insurance for health problems has risen sharply: 44% more people used insurer-provided healthcare services in 2021 than in pre-pandemic 2019, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Some of that will be to do with NHS waiting lists hitting a record high. Earlier this month it emerged that the number of people waiting longer than 18 months for NHS treatment in England was growing, despite ministers previously promising to eliminate such long waits.
