The provision of medical and dental care to patients who pay for the care either directly, through private medical insurance, or through employer-funded private insurance. In the UK, most patients are treated and cared for by the community- or hospital-based NHS. Although permitted to do so, few NHS general practitioners see private patients. NHS consultants are within certain prescribed circumstances allowed to treat private patients and about half (and the majority of surgeons) do so. Consultations and treatment are usually at private-health premises, although some NHS hospitals have private facilities attached.