Downing Street has insisted that disclosing the healthcare arrangements of Rishi Sunak is not in the ‘public interest’.
Sunak, among the wealthiest prime ministers in history, has neither confirmed nor denied he uses private healthcare instead of the NHS.
He is reportedly registered with a private GP practice that charges £250 for a one-hour consultation – with appointments available on evenings and weekends.
Today, his spokesman refused to confirm if Sunak and his family use private healthcare as the NHS once again hits breaking point.
‘No, I don’t think getting into medical issues for a prime minister’s family is in the public interest,’ the spokesman said.
Asked if Sunak has enough ‘first-hand experience’ of the NHS, the spokesman added: ‘You’ll know we don’t get into the PM’s personal affairs in that way, as you would expect.
‘I think it would be wholly wrong to claim the prime minister is not fully aware of the challenges our health service is facing.
‘It is why he has prioritised funding for the NHS in the autumn statement at a time of constrained public finances.
‘The prime minister has a number of meetings very regularly on the NHS. It is one of his top priorities.’
Since being handed the keys to No 10, one of the biggest question marks over Sunak’s leadership is whether he actually relates to ordinary people.
Critics have their reasons for this: His private school education, £3,500 suits and his combined net worth with his wife Akshata Murty roughly double that of King Charles III, among other things.
According to the Guardian, Sunak is registered with a west London GP clinic that offers many options and treatments not available in standard NHS clinics.
This includes appointments on the day consultations by email or phone that cost up to £150. At-home visits run between £400 and £500.
Just 41.5% of GP appointments on the NHS took place on the same day in September, according to official figures. While stories of sometimes day-long waits for ambulances become more frequent.
More than a dozen trusts and ambulance services have declared critical incidents in recent days as longstanding issues of government underfunding, staff shortages and soaring demand as well as strike action stretch an already threadbare health service.
Sunak became prime minister at a time when Brits’ financial woes are piling up – a deepening cost-of-living crisis and a truly bleak recession ahead.
He’s long insisted that he wasn’t ‘born’ into this wealth, but a catalogue of gaffes – struggling to pay contactless at a petrol station or asking a homeless man whether he works in business – has prompted questions over his relatability.
Sunak and Murty own homes in London; his parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire; and Santa Monica, California.
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