Peterborough-based Compare the Market boss says more people considering private medical cover

More people are considering taking out private medical cover as anxieties grow about the state of the NHS, says the boss of a Peterborough company.​

According to Mark Bailie, the chief executive of price comparison website Compare the Market, based in Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, there has been an 80 per cent growth in the number of people checking out private medical insurance.

Mr Bailie, who before joining Compare the Market in September 2020, was one of a number of business people leading the NHS Test & Trace service, says the increase in interest in private medical cover has appeared over the space of three months.

During an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg he said: “We’ve seen somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 people per month looking to get private medial insurance.

“That is a really significant change.”

Compare the Market, which used to be a part of the BGL Group, provides price and cover comparisons for a range of insurance needs.

The growth in the search for private medical cover comes as concerns increase about lengthy delays in getting NHS treatment following Covid-19 and as nurses and junior doctors embark on strike action.

Last month, a survey revealed that wait times for GP appointments in the East of England averaged 16 weeks – the highest in England.

Figures released by the NHS last November revealed the discrepancy between waiting times at GP surgeries across Peterborough. It identified the 18 GP practices with the highest percentage of appointments involving waits of more than 28 days.