NHS waiting lists turn private healthcare into the latest front in the war for talent

City businesses are increasingly offering private healthcare insurance as an employee benefit when trying to recruit new staff, recruiters and insurers told City A.M. 

Much of the demand has been driven by increasing waiting times on the NHS – with younger generations in particular valuing a work-sponsored workaround.

Almost a third (30 per cent) of financial services professionals stated “private health insurance” as an important benefit when considering a job offer, according to a recent survey by recruiter Robert Walters. 

Liz McKeever, an associate director at specialist recruiter Robert Walters, told City A.M. that “health and wellness benefits are proving popular to employers looking to bulk out their signing-on packages in lieu of significant pay bumps.”

“Younger professionals have definitely been at the forefront of increased demands placed on employers to provide greater wellbeing and health services, however this is a trend we are seeing across the board [among] professionals of all ages,” McKeever said. 

Alex Perry, chief executive of Bupa UK Insurance, told City A.M. that the firm has also seen a rise in demand for private healthcare policies from businesses. 

“We’ve seen strong demand for our health cover over recent years, more than anything from businesses recognising the increasingly important role they play in supporting the health of their people,” Perry said. “Providing fast access to diagnosis and treatment can be life-saving, and also gets people back to health and work faster.”

He added: “We know that health insurance benefits are increasingly valued by employees, which in a competitive job market enables businesses to attract and retain critical talent, as well as keep experienced colleagues in the workplace for longer.” 

“We know that health insurance benefits are increasingly valued by employees, which in a competitive job market enables businesses to attract and retain critical talent, as well as keep experienced colleagues in the workplace for longer.”  Alex Perry, chief executive of Bupa UK Insurance

Rising demand for private healthcare insurance has helped boost profits at Britain’s big insurers.

This month Aviva reported that its private health business saw a 41 per cent boom in sales on the back of strong demand from both businesses and individuals. 

A spokesperson for Aviva told City A.M. it has taken on over 100,000 new private healthcare insurance customers in the UK so far this year, adding that it had also seen a “significant interest from younger age groups who traditionally would not have viewed private health insurance as a priority”. 

Mattoli Woods, which provides pensions, employee benefits and wealth management services, also said it continues to see a growing interest in corporate healthcare packages. 

“We are seeing increased demand across all sectors of company healthcare, private medical insurance, health cash plans and health assessments,” Edward Watling, head of health and wellbeing benefits at Mattioli Woods, told City A.M. 

He added that this surge in demand started at the end of lockdown and said it “shows no signs of slowing down”. 

The emerging trend in corporate Britain comes as the NHS continues to grapple with ongoing strikes and record waiting lists. 

A new survey out today from financial services review website Smart Money People, found that close to one in three (27 per cent) of UK adults are considering buying health insurance in the next six to 12 months, as half (49 per cent) want to navigate NHS waiting lists and similar numbers (46 per cent) want access to better treatments. 

Conservative chairman of the health select committee, Steve Brine, told City A.M. it was “no huge surprise we continue to see big rises in those seeking a different route” to deal with health problems.

The Tory MP added: “There is a mixed economy in healthcare in our country and people are free to choose a paid for provider if they are able.”

“There is a mixed economy in healthcare in our country and people are free to choose a paid for provider if they are able.” Steve Brine, Tory MP and chairman of the health select committee,

But Brine insisted there was a “clear NHS plan” to “bash through the waiting lists”, which he said would be “greatly eased by an end to the unnecessary industrial action by junior doctors” and that arguments in favour of “dismantling” the service were “fringe views”.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the government was “taking the long-term decisions needed” to ensure “people get the care they need”.

They said waiting lists were down three months in a row and an extra 50m GP appointments had been delivered, alongside pharmacies offering increased services to free up GP time.

“We are putting record levels of investment into the NHS, and we have commissioned the first-ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to train, and retain, the staff our healthcare system will need in the decades to come,” they added.