Scotland is turning to private health coverage, and the record £105 million was spent on private medical insurance in 2005, new figures from the private sector have revealed.
Health care is becoming more prevalent in Scotland than in the past, Health Insurance and Protection Magazine reported, and has increased by a third since 2003.
The figures are hardly shocking, considering the wait times necessary to receive basic surgeries that could be very painful to wait through.
Wait times for NHS-funded surgery can be extremely lengthy and 15,210 more than six months for an outpatient treatment such as cataracts and 1,118 waited another six months for other treatments.
A Bupa spokesman said that the self-funded patient has increased in prevalence by 15 per cent in 2005.
The figures come at a very uncertain time for the NHS, with the revolutionary chief executive resigning from the Scottish health service this week.
© Adfero Ltd
Private treatment news : 12/10/2006
