
The report highlighted that after a long term decline, private medical insurance holder numbers stabilised at 36% however membership is still far lower than pre-recession. Medical card holders also remained the same as 2015 at 43% but remain higher than pre-recession. The report also highlighted that attendance at the GP increased significantly over the past five years, from 23% attending in the past week or month compared with 29% in 2016.
The Pfizer Index has been run for the past 11 years by Behaviour & Attitudes as a nationally representative quota survey of the adult population aged 16 and over. Each annual study examines experience of illness and wellbeing among a census-matched sample of 1,000, examining contributors and influences, and this year introducing a new section on family health.