Both my elderly parents (80/82) are afraid of going into hospital for surgery as they have both caught serious secondary infections during previous hospital stays following knee/hip and stomach surgery.
Despite my health cover, I had to make sure that my insurer's got paid back for my enforced stay following a road traffic accident by sueing the driver of the other vehicle. The ward and some of the medical attention was lacking before I invoked the private health cover... in private treatment I wasn't allowed a light plastic water jug.. it had to be heavy glass.. and there's me with a broken left wrist and a broken right arm!... but I was able to borrow scarce physio equipment to help treat the worst of my repaired knee joints... until the insurers said 'time' , at which point I went back to the general ward , and shuffled about waiting for my broken heel to mend... at least I had no open cuts by then...