THE BBC is splashing hundreds of thousands of pounds of licence-fee money on a private health service for staff.
It is looking to award a £650,000 contract to a firm that can provide employees and fixed-term workers with remote GP appointments online or by phone.
Details of the scheme have been put out to tender.
It is set to run from February 2026 to January 2029, with a possible extension until 2031.
Critics say it is “indefensible” to expect the public to fund the move while they face long waits for NHS appointments themselves. They called for the licence fee to be scrapped.
A TV industry source said: “When the public can’t get a GP appointment for love nor money, our licence fee is going on BBC staff getting one whenever they want. It’s a joke”
It comes after it was revealed last week that waits of more than a month to see a GP have risen to a record high.
Analysis of NHS England data by the House of Commons Library found 12.9 million people waited more than 28 days for an appointment in the first half of the year, compared with 4.5 million in 2021.
The NHS has also warned patients that the waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments can be as long as 18 weeks from the day an appointment is booked.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “It’s outrageous that while millions of people can’t get a GP appointment, the BBC is using licence fee cash to fund a private healthcare service for its staff.
“This kind of two-tier system, where viewers are forced to pay for luxuries they can’t access, shows how out of touch the BBC has become.
“The licence fee should be scrapped. It’s indefensible to keep squeezing struggling households to fund this.”
A BBC spokesman said: “As a 24/7 global media organisation, many of our teams work irregular hours and in locations where NHS access is not available.
“We provide remote GP access as part of our duty of care, to reduce sickness absence and ensure we can continue delivering services for audiences.”
