London | September 18, 2025
"Rethinking public-private collaboration in UK healthcare", a new report published by Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), the world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people, today called for reform of the tax treatment of employer-funded healthcare to help boost employee access to preventative healthcare, improve productivity and reduce pressure on the NHS.
The report also highlights the importance of introducing national standards for patient consent and data sharing across the public and private health sectors. Doing so could enable general practitioners, diagnostic teams and specialist clinicians to more easily share information, which could improve the triage process, enhance preventative care and boost efficiency, especially in time-sensitive areas such as cardiology.
Chris Bailey, Mercer Marsh Benefits’ UK Managing Director, said: “To secure the future of the NHS, we need to improve co-operation between the public and private health sectors. As part of this, companies should be encouraged to increase healthcare provision through tax reforms. This could lead to the adoption of more preventative healthcare schemes, resulting in a healthier, happier and more productive workforce and relieving pressure on the NHS.”
The existing UK tax policy creates a barrier for employers who want to provide healthcare benefits to their employees. For every £1 employers spend on healthcare, they incur costs of up to £1.26 due to the taxes imposed on employer-funded health insurance policies.
The report’s findings are drawn from consultations with senior healthcare professionals, including NHS Trust and NHS England executives, clinical leaders, insurers and private sector health providers. It presents transformative opportunities for the future of UK healthcare, with employers at the heart of a reinvigorated partnership between the public and private sectors.
The report also identifies workforce planning, digital transformation and delivering healthcare through specialised regional hubs as being crucial to improving NHS provision and particularly conducive to public–private sector co-operation. It proposes innovative solutions, such as rotational staff programs across NHS trusts and private providers, alongside shared training platforms, and expanding centres of excellence, especially where volume improves outcomes for routine procedures. Matching clinicians’ expertise to patient needs, or skills matching, is also seen as vital to building a flexible, resilient workforce capable of meeting rising demand.
