Private medical insurance

It really depends what you want covered. I work in the NHS so that will bias my perception of it.

The NHS is really good at emergency care. Break your hip. Have a heart attack. Have your bowel twist on itself and block. Get cancer. All things which the NHS can and will do well.

But almost any physical health problem which isn’t immediately life threatening and many mental health problems will probably be dealt with quicker by private health care.

I’d say the care isn’t objectively better, just quicker and you’ll sit on comfier seats.

As an extensive user of both the NHS and private medical health, I'd agree, up to a point.   

You often see the same people, just in different venues. 

But you get more attention in private care because people aren’t so overworked … and you avoid the worst of NHS under-investment. 

When you say something to a nurse or doctor, the information is received, registered, and acted upon; in the NHS you can never be sure of that and constantly have to check that they are fully aware (and frequently they aren’t; not because the informtion isn't there, but because my medical records are extensive, and they haven't had time to read everything)..

I have no spleen and other factors which damaged my immune system permanently and even though this is (obviously) on my records, NHS staff are frequently unaware of it, and twice in my life major clinical decisions have been made as a result which endangered my life. 

Private medical staff noticeably have the time to properly review your records, check things with you, ask clarifying questions, and listen.  

I was once 999-d into an NHS hospital which was in dire straits. 

Examples of what happened, there:

1. The shower had a chair in it; one leg had broken through the plastic floor, there was a huge hole, but people were still using it, and from the mould and water damage, had been for ages. 
2. I found unexplained pills strewn across the toilet floor, along with torn-up packaging.
3. An elderly gent in the next bed, who was not in control of his body movements, kept leaning dangerously towards the edge. I told staff he was in danger of falling out, but they paid minimal attention, 'tucked him in', but didn't put up bed barriers as I requested. Several hours later, as I’d predicted, he fell out, and hit his skull on a hard floor. As a result, a LOT of staff became involved, it became an emergency situation, he was taken off somewhere else eventually, and the resource expenditure was massive (if they’d taken the time to fit bed barriers it would have taken a few minutes). 
4. I’m a veggie, but they kept delivering food with meat, so I was only eating bits of it, and not receiving a proper diet. My wife ended up bringing my food in.

My wife got upset about all this and arranged a transfer to a private hospital, where I got a full medical on arrival, involving several staff, and tests with near-immediate results. They discovered a potentially dangerous infection which had been entirely undetected (I was prescribed antibiotics immediately and began taking them that night).

I didn’t arrive until about 11.30pm, but was hungry, because I hadn’t been eating, and was able to order from a menu, and have good, freshly cooked, vegetarian food shortly afterwards.  

I don’t blame the NHS staff for any of this (far from it) and have had better experiences but because the NHS is so woefully under resourced, you have to fight for yourself and your loved ones.  May God help those who can’t, or don’t have people to champion them.

As an extensive user of both the NHS and private medical health, I'd agree, up to a point.   

You often see the same people, just in different venues. 

But you get more attention in private care because people aren’t so overworked … and you avoid the worst of NHS under-investment. 

When you say something to a nurse or doctor, the information is received, registered, and acted upon; in the NHS you can never be sure of that and constantly have to check that they are fully aware (and frequently they aren’t; not because the informtion isn't there, but because my medical records are extensive, and they haven't had time to read everything)..

I have no spleen and other factors which damaged my immune system permanently and even though this is (obviously) on my records, NHS staff are frequently unaware of it, and twice in my life major clinical decisions have been made as a result which endangered my life. 

Private medical staff noticeably have the time to properly review your records, check things with you, ask clarifying questions, and listen.  

I was once 999-d into an NHS hospital which was in dire straits. 

Examples of what happened, there:

1. The shower had a chair in it; one leg had broken through the plastic floor, there was a huge hole, but people were still using it, and from the mould and water damage, had been for ages. 
2. I found unexplained pills strewn across the toilet floor, along with torn-up packaging.
3. An elderly gent in the next bed, who was not in control of his body movements, kept leaning dangerously towards the edge. I told staff he was in danger of falling out, but they paid minimal attention, 'tucked him in', but didn't put up bed barriers as I requested. Several hours later, as I’d predicted, he fell out, and hit his skull on a hard floor. As a result, a LOT of staff became involved, it became an emergency situation, he was taken off somewhere else eventually, and the resource expenditure was massive (if they’d taken the time to fit bed barriers it would have taken a few minutes). 
4. I’m a veggie, but they kept delivering food with meat, so I was only eating bits of it, and not receiving a proper diet. My wife ended up bringing my food in.

My wife got upset about all this and arranged a transfer to a private hospital, where I got a full medical on arrival, involving several staff, and tests with near-immediate results. They discovered a potentially dangerous infection which had been entirely undetected (I was prescribed antibiotics immediately and began taking them that night).

I didn’t arrive until about 11.30pm, but was hungry, because I hadn’t been eating, and was able to order from a menu, and have good, freshly cooked, vegetarian food shortly afterwards.  

I don’t blame the NHS staff for any of this (far from it) and have had better experiences but because the NHS is so woefully under resourced, you have to fight for yourself and your loved ones.  May God help those who can’t, or don’t have people to champion them.