Only 7% of the public support the government’s policy of denying NHS care to patients who choose to pay for extra drugs.

An ICM poll, commissioned by Doctors for Reform, a group of almost 1,000 doctors campaigning for patients to have the right to buy top-up drugs on the NHS, also found that 65% of people would pay extra towards their treatment if they were diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.

Members of the public are willing to pay large sums to supplement their NHS care. More than a fifth (22%) would spend more than £15,000 on private drugs. Almost a third (31%) would pay more than £10,000.

Young people are more likely to favour top-ups. Almost two-thirds (63%) of 25 to 34-year-olds believe patients should be able to top up their NHS care with private medicines. Only 42% of the over 65s believe patients should be allowed to top up.

When people were asked their opinion on the government’s policy that patients should have to fund all their care if they want to pay for anything extra, only 7% agreed.

Forty-three per cent felt that the NHS should always pay for every treatment, regardless of the cost to the taxpayer, and 48% believed the NHS should allow patients to pay for extras without making them pay the total cost of their care.

Andrew Haldenby, director of Reform, which includes Doctors for Reform, said: “These results show a huge demand for personal financial contributions to healthcare for serious conditions. Barely any of the electorate supports the position to which the government is clinging.”

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