Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest statistics published by the Private Healthcare Information Network, which reports a 12.3% year on year rise in the first quarter of 2023 in admissions to private hospitals for treatment funded by a combination of private healthcare insurance and self-paid, which also accounts for the largest such comparable rise in any part of the UK.
Private Healthcare Information Network figures for the first quarter of 2023 show Scotland has a lower rate of take up of private healthcare compared to England and Wales. The rate of people self-funding for private inpatient/day-case care is 16% higher in England, 51% higher in Wales and 40% higher Northern Ireland than in Scotland. When people who fund private healthcare through insurance is included, the rate per head in England is 76% higher than Scotland. In Wales it is 15% higher and in Northern Ireland 31% higher than in Scotland.
Scotland has a world-class National Health Service we can all be proud of but people have the choice to pay privately for care if they choose. It is important that all healthcare is safe, effective and person-centred and Healthcare Improvement Scotland have stringent regulation of private healthcare, including private hospitals, to ensure that’s the case.