My employer provides the "highest" level of BUPA cover which sounded good.

However in the first instance you have to go to your GP and get a referal, when I did this I was then told I had to do another online GP call with a BUPA doctor - which seemed like a waste of time for me and my GP.

Each time you phone BUPA you have to go through a long menu, put in you membership number and other details and after all that expect at least 30 minutes on hold....

Which I had to do as the BUPA referal letter / email did not have the Authorisation code - I checked my account online and it was not there - which would make life far easier.

My understanding is if I need an operation I would wait a year on the NHS and BUPA may be able to do it faster if they approve it.

Another thing that surprised me is they could not recomend a specialist for my issue, they just send a list of approved doctors with some info and you can research them and choose one yourself, was hoping they might say Mr A and Mr B are excellent in this field.

BUPA offer online GP appoinments as well (video calls) but I think post COVID most GP suregeries do this now - mine does, and I can normally get a face-to-face appointment within 2 working days, and often an online chat is not enough to check things out, especially physical conditions.

Although it is paid for by my employer I pay 40% tax on the benefit value and may not renew next year as I am not sure it offers great value.