THE Scottish Greens have slammed Rishi Sunak after he dodged a question on whether or not he is registered for private healthcare. 

The Prime Minister has previously ducked questions about his use of private healthcare and it has previously been reported he is registered with a private GP practice that charges £250 for a same-day, half-hour consultation. 

Downing Street has said the information is “not in the public interest”. 

Speaking on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, the PM was grilled on whether or not he uses private healthcare. 

He said: “My dad was a doctor; I grew up in an NHS family.”

When the host pointed out this wasn’t her question, the PM replied: “As a general policy, I wouldn’t ever talk about me or my family’s healthcare situation but it’s not really relevant, what’s relevant is the difference I can make to the country.”

Kuenssberg then pointed out that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was “proud” to talk of her decision to use private healthcare. 

She continued to question Sunak on why he would not give a straightforward answer. 

The PM continued: “It’s just a personal choice. It’s about healthcare, I think that’s somewhat private. I think what people care about is, am I going to make a difference on the thing that they care about?

“When it comes to the NHS, I literally, I grew up in an NHS family, my dad was a GP, my mum was a pharmacist.”

He added that his “track record” was what mattered more as he continued to be pressed on the issue. 

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“It’s a distraction from what the real issue is and the real issue is are we making sure there is high-quality healthcare available for the country but when it comes to the private sector in general, we should be making use of the independent sector. 

“For example, with elective surgery, one of the things we do need to do is actually be much more open to using the independent sector capacity that is available and putting power in the hands of patients to choose where they want to have that treatment.”

The Scottish Greens health spokesperson Gillian Mackay said that the PM’s refusal to answer a simple question “tells us all we need to know”. 

“The Prime Minister may be a multimillionaire who can afford the luxury of private healthcare during a cost of living crisis, but the policies he is responsible for have forced millions of people to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families," she said. 

“When he entered Downing Street, Sunak promised ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’. This flies in the face of that.”

Mackay’s comments were echoed by Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen, who has been leading strikes in an attempt to secure nurses a better pay deal. 

“I think as a public servant, you ought to be clear with the public whether or not you are using private health cover”, she said. 

“That’s about being open, it’s about being transparent, and it’s about honesty. 

“I think he needed to come clean. As a public servant, he is elected by the public, so he is accountable to the public, you have to be honest with them.”