Majority of Britons Back Windfall Tax on Private Healthcare to Fund the NHS
Former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock and the Good Growth Foundation are calling on the Government to institute a windfall tax on private healthcare. New polling from the Good Growth Foundation, released today (Monday 4th August), reveals a clear public appetite for bold action to rescue the NHS, including a windfall tax on private healthcare profits.
The public also strongly support targeted taxation of the private sector to fund NHS reform:
43% support a general tax on private healthcare, including 15% who strongly support it
55% support a windfall tax on private healthcare companies, including 25% who strongly support it. Only 17% oppose the idea*
Just 37% support charging NHS patients who can afford to pay - and opposition (39%) outweighs support
59% agree that “the NHS needs more investment, and it also needs to change to become more modern and efficient” - compared to just 17% who say it doesn’t need more money, and just needs to change to become more modern and efficient.
Amid growing concern about the future of universal healthcare, a majority of Britons (55%) say they support the NHS being free at the point of use and funded through taxation - while just 33% support a mixed, insurance-based model, similar to the system floated by Nigel Farage. Only 7% favour a fully private, insurance-led system.
There is a strong sense the NHS is in need of reform:
80% of the public believe the NHS “needs to change in order to survive”
71% are worried they’ll have to pay for NHS services in the future, and only one in five (20%) believe the NHS will remain universally free.
Good Growth Foundation Director, Praful Nargund said: “We have sleepwalked into a two tier-healthcare system, and we have to back the NHS. It is in a dire state: from 8am GP scrambles to months-long waiting lists. It’s simply not good enough. People are being forced to go private for care they should get for free. That’s not a system in need of tweaks, that’s a system on the brink and in need of major reform. A windfall tax on private healthcare would be a bold, fair first step to fund an NHS the British public deserve.”
Former Labour Party Leader, Neil Kinnock, said: “Introducing VAT on private health provision could provide vital funding for the NHS and social care. After 14 years of underinvestment, many people are turning to private healthcare not out of choice, but because they cannot afford to wait. This has increasingly led to unequal access to care. Ending the VAT exemption to generate much-needed revenue is a reasonable and widely supported step.”
The polling also finds:
51% say access challenges like GP wait times stop them from seeking help when they need it.
The biggest challenges identified by the public include staff shortages (50%), long waiting lists (50%), and underfunding (47%).
NOTES TO EDITOR
Full research details available on request.
The above polling statistics are taken from a nationally representative survey conducted by the Good Growth Foundation of 2,054 adults aged 18+ living in Great Britain, with a small boost to oversample those who voted Labour in the 2024 General Election and currently intend to vote Reform UK (133). Fieldwork was conducted between 20 - 24 June 2025.
All figures are weighted to be nationally and politically representative of all Britons, based on age, gender, education level, region, vote in 2024, vote in 2019, and political intention.
*The full question asked to respondents was: “A “windfall tax” is a one-off tax on companies that have made unexpectedly large profits, like those recently applied to some oil and gas firms. To what extent would you support or oppose a windfall tax on private healthcare companies to help fund the NHS?”
