Private practice in the United Kingdom: a growing concern.

During the past decade private medical insurance in the United Kingdom grew first rapidly and then steadily. Once almost entirely non-profit, half the private beds and 10% of the private insurance market are now in the for-profit sector. Apart from abortions, cold or elective surgery is the chief private sector service. Average annual consultant income from private practice is now approximately 19,000 pounds sterling. Recent growth of the private sector has been fanned by the present Conservative government's support of privatization generally, by limited levels of National Health Service (NHS) funding, and by vigorous advertising by private insurance companies which plays on the concerns of British consumers. The private medical sector is largely unregulated. Present government policies make its reduction or elimination unlikely. To make it possible for the public sector to compete more equally, a strategy which requires the same levels of regulations, quality assurance, accountability and public scrutiny for the private sector and the NHS is proposed.