Policy

British Patients Look to Private Care as NHS Cuts Back on Treatments

Government authorities want patients to be more ill before they seek treatment

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GPs believe the numbers of patients asking about paying for operations including cataract removal and joint replacements has increased markedly in the last year, according to a poll.

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said it was "incontrovertible" that increased NHS rationing was behind the increase in going private, a trend she described as "very sad".