Do you have to go private if you have private health insurance?

[jaspen]

you can be a public patient in a public hospital or a private patient in a public hospital - if you notify the public hospital you are a private patient - in addition to possibly a single room and/or direct consultation with the head consultant rather than just the junior staff (which was an extra (could be good or bad) I didn't expect when I was a private patient in a public hospital) they will receive money from your private health insurance to fund your stay (no where near what the private hospitals get but still income).