I have a medical problem which is severely impacting on the performance of my job.  I am thinking of going private because the wait on the NHS is going to be a long one and I need to resolve my health issues to perform my job better.  Would I get tax relief on the cost of a private operation?

If you look at www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM37945.htm you can see that HMRC say that the cost of surgery is not allowable. However if you look more closely at that page you can see that in the case in question (Prince v Mapp) the taxpayer had a dual purpose in having the surgery, which may not be applicable in your case. However even disregarding the above, HMRC can most likely argue that you have a private advantage and personal need in having the operation, and as such should be disallowable because of another case (Mallalieu v Drummond), where a barrister was not allowed to claim for clothes (www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM37910.htm).