Britain Disgruntled With Health Services

19 January 2009, London – Britons are looking for much more from their healthcare providers, according to a UK national survey from RevaHealth.com, a specialist healthcare search engine. The study findings reveal that nearly half of patients believe they could have been offered a better service from their dentist and a third want more from their GP.

Demand for these services and other health and beauty treatments remain strong in the recession as 77% of us are maintaining or increasing spend and three quarters of the population would still like to change something about themselves.

Consumers are most worried about their teeth with 43% wanting some kind of work, closely followed by a third of us who would like to change something about their body and 17% who want to change their face or correct their eyesight through laser eye surgery.

The study gives some explanation for the disappointment in services as Britons have no idea where to start looking in order to research the right health, medical and beauty treatment providers that match their needs. Not surprisingly 41% go straight to their GP for advice but despite their professional qualifications, GPs are unlikely to be aware of all the providers available. Perhaps reflecting the dissatisfaction with the service they receive, a significant proportion of the population, 37%, now prefer to turn to the Internet but struggle with results that appear via traditional search engines when they look to find information relevant to them.

Caelen King, CEO at RevaHealth.com comments, “The British population is missing out by going through their GP or trawling through pages of results on traditional search engines to find health, medical and beauty providers. There is a clear need to ensure patients and potential patients can access all the options and make decisions for themselves. The study shows the research process needs to be simpler and easier for the patient to find the best clinic for their needs, which should then provide more satisfaction. This is why RevaHealth.com has developed a specialised health search engine that currently stores information on over 60,000 clinics in 50 countries worldwide and presents information in a format that gives the consumer the information he or she needs to make an informed choice.”

The continued importance of health, medical and beauty treatments to UK consumers and the willingness to make changes to ourselves shows how important personal appearance is to consumers and how far the UK has come in accepting image-altering treatments. The survey found two thirds would consider cosmetic surgery or treatments, over half would undergo treatments to boost their self confidence and 17% would improve their appearance in this way to become more attractive to others.

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Hyperlinks to take your readers straight to the most relevant part of the health search engine

• There is a great resource for finding doctors in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.
• There is a great resource for finding dentists in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.
• There is a great resource for finding cosmetic and plastic surgery clinics in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.
• There is a great resource for finding laser eye surgery clinics in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.
• There is a great resource for finding fertility clinics in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.
• There is a great resource for finding health and beauty clinics in the UK on new website RevaHealth.com.

About RevaHealth.com
RevaHealth.com is a comprehensive, vertical search engine that makes it easy for consumers to find and compare relevant health clinics offering treatments from liposuction to laser eye surgery and including those available via the NHS. It was set up in 2006 and boasts a current database storing information on over 60,000 clinics in 50 countries worldwide.

RevaHealth.com is a truly independent third party to provide information but does not intend to get between patients and their doctors. The platform simply allows the patient to easily find more information on clinics most suited to their needs and directs them straight to the clinic for more information or to book a consultation.
Reva Health is the registered business name of Global Medical Treatment Ltd.

For more information please contact:

Aoife Murray at RevaHealth.com
Tel: +353 (0) 1 6 520 520
Email: amurray@revahealth.com

RevaHealth.com
44 Westland Row
Dublin 2
Ireland