Economics
Why Africa Is Set to Backstop Britain’s Post-Brexit Health Care
Fewer Britons are paying for health insurance, but private hospitals are thriving.
A member of medical staff secures his face mask inside a hospital in the U.K.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The South African companies that dominate the U.K.’s growing private hospital industry are counting on more people like Katie Corrie.
A children’s party entertainer, Corrie opted to use 13,000 pounds ($17,000) of her savings and inheritance to get a hip replacement rather than spend months on a National Health Service waiting list. Britons like her are forking out almost 1 billion pounds a year to cover their own medical expenses, a trend that’s giving at least one industry the scope to look past Brexit turmoil.