Patients are increasingly turning to private healthcare to escape a referrals “black hole”, GPs have warned, as the NHS struggles with a shortfall of available appointments.
The most recent figures show GP practices make about 400,000 referrals a month to outpatient clinics that are fully booked. Some patients will be able to choose an alternative provider, some will be booked at a later date, but many end up being bounced back to their local surgery.
