The number of people in Britain crowdfunding for private medical care has soared since the Covid-19 pandemic, as NHS waiting lists continue to reach record lengths.
Figures provided to the Guardian by GoFundMe, a website that helps people raise money, show 84% more medical crowdfunders mentioning “waits” or “waiting lists” were launched this March than in January 2019, before the pandemic.
The number of medical campaigns containing the words “go private” or “privately” also doubled.
The family of seven-year-old Myla Natalie Ray turned to GoFundMe after being told she would have to wait until the end of the year for brain surgery. Last week, after their campaign went viral, they were offered an earlier date for surgery by the NHS.
Myla’s parents wrote that they wanted to “allow her to get her life back, to experience life the way she should at her age … We know this is a huge ask with the current climate but anything you can give is greatly appreciated from the bottom of our hearts,” they wrote.
Others to have crowdfunded for treatment include Katie Bennett-Hogg, whose family chose to seek private treatment for her recurring sepsis, caused by urinary tract infections, because of long NHS waiting lists, and Christina Johnston-Myachin, who was put on a waiting list for months after her singing career was jeopardised by a diseased gallbladder.
The NHS waiting list in England stood at a record 7.2 million people in March this year, with 2.6 million waiting longer than 18 weeks. Separate figures from Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), show the number of private medical admissions for people self-paying for treatment was 66,000 between July and September last year, up from 50,000 at the same point in 2019.
The number of medical campaigns mentioning “waiting list” spiked on GoFundMe in April 2020 as the first Covid wave swept the UK, disrupting NHS services. That figure has since fallen, but remains consistently higher than 2019 levels.
The Guardian found 1,950 medical GoFundMe campaigns set up by people in the UK in the three months to the end of February, of which 243 directly mentioned “waits” or “waiting lists”, and 226 used the word “private”.
They included a campaign by Harrow Borough FC to pay for knee surgery for their player James Taylor, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament – a common sporting injury.
Harrow’s first team manager, Steve Baker, wrote: “Unfortunately, due to current NHS waiting times he could be looking at nine- to 12 months then up to a further year for full recovery. Essentially, he could lose two years of a very promising football career. I appreciate times are hard but any help would be fantastic. Not only does he have a great career ahead of him but he’s a top lad as well.”
Long waiting lists for transgender healthcare on the NHS have led to large numbers of people crowdfunding for private treatment for gender affirming surgeries. In February, the Tavistock clinic in London was offering initial appointments to people who were first referred more than four and a half years ago.
The Guardian found 160 active campaigns in the three months to February from people crowdfunding to help undergo gender-affirming surgeries or treatment.
Meanwhile, the number of campaigns set up by people in the UK that contained the words “rent”, “bills” or “debt” was 53% higher than in January 2019. The Guardian found 437 active campaigns in the three months ending February that contained the words “cost of living”, and 847 mentioning “rent” or “bills”.
They included a campaign set up by an NHS ambulance care assistant who struggled to cover his expenses during a six-week pay gap over Christmas, and several campaigns set up to help pay the bills for people with medical conditions such as cancer who are unable to work.
John Coventry, international vice-president at GoFundMe, said: “We are seeing more people than ever turning to GoFundMe as the NHS and cost of living crisis clash head-on. This data shows that, while the pressure people are under is increasing, communities are coming together to help out friends, family, colleagues and even strangers when they need it most.”
Action Fraud guidance says that when giving online, make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information – and only donate to online fundraising pages created by a person or organisation you know and trust. If in any doubt, contact the charity directly.
The Guardian downloaded every GoFundMe campaign active on the website’s sitemap as of 10 February. However, this only gave a partial picture of the rate of change, as historical campaigns that are no longer active can drop off the sitemap.
To show change over time, GoFundMe carried out keyword searches on several topics, and provided the Guardian with figures for campaigns with at least one donation indexed to January 2019, to allow a pre-pandemic comparison.