Private hospital admissions in the UK hit record levels in the second quarter of 2024 as employers view the struggle to keep their workforces healthy as an “existential threat”.
Data from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) shows that the number of reported private hospital admissions in April to June 2024 (232,000) was at a record level for that period in a year, and the second highest level ever behind Q1 2024 (240,000).
Most of the Q2 2024 admissions (164,000) were funded by private medical insurance (PMI), up 9 percent on the same quarter in 2023.
Brett Hill, head of health and protection at consultancy Broadstone, said: “Hospital admissions funded by PMI account for around seven in 10 of all private treatments. With 80 percent of PMI policies purchased by employers on behalf of their employees, the significant increase in PMI admissions highlights the fact that UK businesses increasingly see the struggle to keep employees healthy as an existential threat to their productivity and business performance.”
Public health crisis
He said: “The crisis in the UK’s public health system continues to drive surging private healthcare admissions, with the record numbers of private hospital admissions being funded by the growth we have seen in the PMI market. Businesses and households across the UK are increasingly willing, where they are able, to take on responsibility for their healthcare needs and purchase medical insurance benefits.
“We are seeing employers continuing to expand their coverage of workplace insurance solutions as they battle rising tides of chronic illness and economic inactivity caused by poor health. Businesses recognise the need to invest in healthcare services as they can no longer rely on the NHS to support the health of their employees adequately.
“Demand from businesses for private healthcare services is expected to continue to grow, despite the additional tax burden placed on them in the recent budget, as we see little hope of material reductions in NHS waiting lists in the near future.”
Richard Wells, PHIN director, said: “Overall the number of reported private hospital admissions is up on the equivalent quarter in 2023, especially across the most popular procedures, such as cataracts, chemotherapy and diagnostic upper GI endoscopy. However, there are procedures which seem to be bucking this trend.
“The reduction in weight-loss surgery admissions could be due to people choosing alternative types of weight-loss treatments, the growing availability and popularity of weight-loss drugs, or people opting to go abroad for treatment.”
