I was lucky enough to have private healthcare paid for me, and I the only bureaucracy I experienced was having to go to the NHS G.P. first to get a "referral".

I was lucky enough to have private healthcare paid for me, and I the only bureaucracy I experienced was having to go to the NHS G.P. first to get a "referral". Basically this is a(n NHS side) tick-boxing exercise where you have to be "referred" to a private doctor before you're allowed to see them, even if you pay. In practice what happens is you go to your G.P. and literally say; "can you write a referral so I can go and see my private doctor", and they do so on the spot without batting an eyelid. > on top of destroying people financially? I'm not sure where that's coming from either? Mine was paid for, but it wasn't exactly extortionate. I could have afforded it myself at the time. I don't understand why it's such an emotionally charged issue for some people. If it's a poor/class thing, does it help that I grew up in a piss poor council estate, and thank god I don't have to rely on the NHS ever again.