Many local hospitals offer below standard care for the over 50s and a “postcode lottery” for hospital care means people should consider private medical insurance, research finds.

New research from Saga Healthcare into the level of care NHS hospitals offer the over 50s has revealed that despite patients having the choice of a limited number of local hospitals, a postcode lottery still exits for good hospital care.

Even though there are a number of very good hospitals in the UK, the research showed that those living near the hospitals which feature near the bottom of the league table could have legitimate worries about the standards of their local healthcare.

Andrew Goodsell, chief executive, Saga, commented: “There is a concern that people living significant distances from the top hospitals may find that the continuing NHS postcode lottery is a real issue if and when they come to need medical support.”

And for people in areas of poor provision, Saga recommended that they look into private medical insurance.

Yet the research found that overall waiting list times are down, as are mortality ratios, and many more hospitals are now meeting Government targets.