In the Commons on Tuesday, during exchanges about the parlous post-Covid state of the NHS, the veteran Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh had a suggestion. Why not restore tax relief on private health insurance for older people who might otherwise be made to wait some two years for treatment?

The response from Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, was not encouraging. He said the priority was to ensure the NHS had enough money to deal with as many people as possible.

But the point is that they are failing to deal with enough, hence the ever-lengthening waiting lists. As Sir Edward observed, older people who are most likely to need joint replacements or other relatively straightforward operations may have to spend two years in pain while the backlog is cleared.

His idea should be pursued by the Government, not shrugged off. The Conservatives introduced the relief, restricted to the basic rate, in 1990 for those aged 60 or over who were losing at retirement the medical insurance cover hitherto provided by their employer.

More generally, Kenneth Clarke, the then health secretary, argued that this relief would “reduce the pressure on the NHS from the very age group most likely to require elective surgery, freeing resources for those who need it most”.

After Labour’s election victory in 1997, Gordon Brown scrapped the policy, partly to meet the cost of cutting the rate of VAT on domestic fuel supplies of fuel but principally because it was considered “unfair”. At the time about 550,000 people were covered by contracts attracting relief, at a cost to the Exchequer of £110 million. The cost today, with far more older people in the population, would be considerably higher, but would pale in comparison with the billions allocated to the NHS recovery plan.

Moreover, the relief could be restricted to those over 66, now the pension age for both men and women. There are some fiscal and equity objections but the main purpose behind this measure is not just to relieve pressure on the NHS at a time of great stress brought on by an unexpected event, but to open up choices for those failed by the state system.

Why should older people be expected to wait two years for treatment? Encouraging more to provide for their own healthcare is an approach the Conservatives should embrace, not spurn.