Rishi Sunak stated that his medical care was “a personal choice” on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
Pat Cullen, the head of the nursing union, stated that the PM “needed to come clean as a public servant.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, responded that he did not use private healthcare when he was asked the similar question.
In the interview, Laura Kuenssberg made the claims that Mr. Sunak’s choices were of great public interest and that Margaret Thatcher, a former Conservative prime minister, was frank about her decision to see a private doctor.
Health care, according to Mr. Sunak, is “something that is private,” and he added that he “grew up in an NHS family,” with a GP father and a pharmacist mother.
When questioned further, Mr. Sunak refused to respond and instead generalised that “we should be making use of the independent sector” so that patients may select the facility where they received treatment.
According to a newspaper article from November of last year, Mr. Sunak was a patient of a private general practitioner office that provides same-day appointments and charges £250 for a half-hour session.
According to the most recent NHS statistics, 58% of NHS patients were not seen on the day of their scheduled appointments in November of last year.
As the NHS deals with one of the worst winters in its history, a record high of more than seven million people are waiting for hospital care.
Public employees “need to be transparent with the public whether or not you are using private health cover,” according to Ms. Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing.
She explained that it was all about being honest, open, and transparent.
When previously questioned about his family’s healthcare arrangements, Mr. Sunak stated that it is his policy to remain silent.
There will probably be a political controversy regarding Mr. Sunak’s personal healthcare preferences, according to Laura Kuenssberg.
Senior doctors have warned of an NHS on a knife edge as some hospitals are in crisis and health workers are on strike over pay.
Mr. Sunak stated last week in his first address of the year that reducing the number of people on the NHS waiting list was one of his top five priorities.
READ MORE: US inflation drops to its lowest in over a year