Healthcare
Further incentives should be offered to patients who opt-out of the NHS in order to improve the public health service, according to a recent poll conducted by Populus on behalf of BUPA.
The study revealed that 66% of respondents believe offering incentives to people opting out of the NHS could see an improvement to the overall system.
The survey, which questioned over 1,000 adults in the UK, said the majority of the population think private provision of healthcare will become more important in the future.
This is supported by the fact that 68% of those questioned said they were open to increased private funding of healthcare, while 72% thought the NHS will routinely use the private sector in ten years' time.
Overall, 93% said they have no objection to private healthcare if it means patients are treated more quickly at no extra cost.
"This research shows that the public is open to change. What matters to patients is what works. The study illustrates that, for the majority of people, the private sector is increasingly an accepted part of health delivery," said BUPA's medical director, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen.
In a separate survey conducted by BUPA, UK economists agreed that a move towards more private sector provision is the way forward.
A total of 65% believe a mixed economy in healthcare, with greater public funding of private sector provision, offers the best model to satisfy patient expectations and to improve the overall quality of healthcare in Britain.
In contrast, only 13% of those surveyed said they think a mixed economy in healthcare could be achieved mainly through public provision.
