The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today published a letter officially confirming that the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) has achieved its ‘Silver’ milestone in the delivery of the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order.
The Order came into effect in 2014, at which point PHIN was appointed as the ‘Information Organisation’ tasked with building the necessary architecture for delivery.
This marks the achievement of the second of the three milestones developed following the publication of the Evidence-based Assessment in 2023. This set out all the requirements for the private healthcare sector to deliver the Order.
The first (‘Bronze’) milestone was delivered in October 2024.
The requirements for reaching this latest milestone include:
- Further developing the architecture required to collect and publish the relevant data – including the capability to publish, and implementation of Anaesthetic Fees on the PHIN website, Deep Dive data report for hospitals to help with compliance, PROMs Site Participation report and a new Patient Insights Explorer, to help patients better understand what their experience might be.
- Engaging with the sector, to facilitate compliance:
- 96% of consultants publish their consultation fees for self-pay patients, exceeding PHIN’s 90% target. Currently, 96% of all private procedures are carried out by consultants whose fees are on the PHIN website.
- 82% of private hospitals submitting volume, length of stay, adverse events and patient feedback, exceeding PHIN’s 80% target. Currently, 97% of all private hospital procedures are carried out by those hospitals.
Gold is due to be achieved by the end of June 2026.
Dr Ian Gargan, PHIN Chief Executive, said:
“I’m delighted that the CMA has officially recognised our achievement with this open letter to the healthcare sector.
“My thanks go to everyone across the sector who has contributed to this fantastic achievement, and especially the team here at PHIN. This includes our Partnership Forum – a representative group of our members – and all the 663 sites we collect information from throughout the UK.
“With this second stage complete, we’re on track to fully implement the Competition and Markets Authority’s Private Healthcare Order by the June 2026 deadline, but know there’s a big challenge ahead still.
“From June 2026, PHIN will have fully delivered the infrastructure enabling the Order to be maintained. We can then ensure the information for patients supports their choices, while we continue to add value to PHIN's members and wider private healthcare sector.
“The hard work to reach the final milestone is already under way, and I’m very confident that we will deliver once again.”
You can read the CMA’s letter on its website.
