What do people know about private healthcare?

Our research clearly shows that there are still significant gaps in the public’s understanding of private healthcare. Notwithstanding the view set out above that many people feel that they ‘could never afford’ private healthcare, just 37% of respondents feel that they are familiar with the cost of different treatments or services.

Likewise, only half of respondents feel that they are familiar with the different ways of paying for treatments and services, and just over half are familiar with how to access private healthcare and the range of services available.

This unfamiliarity comes across clearly in asking people how much it would cost to access certain services through private healthcare. A GP appointment – typical actual cost between £40 and £200 – was correctly priced by around 60% of respondents (with 20% stating that they didn’t have any idea of the cost). For a more complex procedure – a CT Scan – there is much less agreement on price. Just 24% of respondents placed this procedure in its true price range (£430-£910), with 13% of respondents overestimating the price – some by as much as £4000. Again, around a fifth of all respondents couldn’t guess a price range at all.

When it comes to finding out about private healthcare services, personal recommendations from friends and family continue to be the most significant source of information, closely followed by information gained from a person’s employer.