Appendix – Methodology

We worked with Public First to carry out both quantitative and qualitative public opinion research. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,003 people who were asked a range of questions about private healthcare. We followed that up with a further survey of 1,771 people who said they were open to using private healthcare. This allowed us to delve deeper into the issues explored below. The project also involved three focus groups:

• People in the North of England who were open to using private healthcare
• People in London and the South East who were open to using private
• People from all across England who had previously used private healthcare

We used these focus groups to get a better sense of people’s thoughts and feelings about private healthcare. We also wanted to understand if and how people’s views change when they have used private healthcare compared to when they have not.

We intend to repeat this research on an annual basis to provide comparisons over time.