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Private medicine in the UK, where there is universal free healthcare, is a small Niche market. Private provision of services for patients who pay (or whose insurers pay) should be distinguished from private providers who are paid by the NHS for services which are, as far as the patients are concerned, free. ==History== The Royal Commission on the NHS reported on private medicine in the UK in 1979. Their report included: *Registered private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics, some of which also treat NHS patients on a contractual basis; *private practice in NHS hospitals, including treatment of private in-patients (in pay beds), out-patients and day-patients; *private practice by general medical practitioners, general dental practitioners, and other NHS contractors, including opticians and pharmacists, who provide NHS services but usually also undertake retail or other private work; *private practice outside the NHS undertaken by medical and dental practitioners, and other staff such as nurses, chiropodists and physiotherapists, who are qualified for employment in the NHS but choose to work wholly or partly outside it; *treatment undertaken by other practitioners not normally employed in the NHS, such as osteopaths and chiropractors. Expenditure on private health care in the UK in 1976 was estimated at £134 million not including abortions, long-term care, or dentistry. That was about 3% of total expenditure on health care in the UK. At that time about 2% of all acute hospital beds and 6% of all hospital beds in England were in private hospitals and nursing homes. The proportions in the rest of the United Kingdom were lower. As part of a drive to extend the choice of providers available to patients, the Thatcher government aimed to expand the provision of private medical insurance by providing tax relief to people over-60. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Private medicine in the UK」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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