Being Treated Privately

The latest figures from the NHS show that they have not quite hit their targets for single sex wards in hospitals. Being comfortable when you are in hospital is something which greatly helps aid recovery and the private single rooms given to health insurance patients are part of that whole package of care.

Like most things that are in the public arena at the moment in the UK this has been turned into a political argument. The Department of Health gave NHS trusts £100m in January in order to speed the final process along although it initially pledged in 2001 to abolish mixed sex wards by the end of 2002.

However, Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley believes that the way forward is more single rooms. He said:

'Too many of their reforms are on piecemeal issues like curtains, screens and signs anyway. Patients needs to be given the dignity they deserve. That's why we've set out plans for a massive overhaul of hospital buildings so that every patient who wants one can be given a single room when they go into hospital for planned care.'

Single rooms that were usually the prerogative of private health hospitals are now on the increase in the NHS. Initially the conservatives promised an increase of 45,000 single NHS rooms but this does not appear in their manifesto. With the UK in financial debt it is unlikely that the NHS will see the increases in the level of spending that it has had over the last few years.

In the health insurance arena single rooms are still a priority, allowing for private consultations, treatment and recuperation. However occasionally some patients that are treated privately in NHS hospitals may have to stay in wards. If single rooms are a priority for you then check the details of which hospitals are covered by your medical insurance policy and what type of accommodation they offer.