In the latest of our quarterly updates, we use our unique national dataset to provide a comprehensive view of the key trends in the independent healthcare sector, covering data up to and including the end of Q2 2025.
The data covers private healthcare in-patient/day-case market activity and includes breakdowns by year for insured cases, ‘self-pay’, nation/English region, Top 10 procedures, demographics and proportion of healthcare admissions compared to NHS England.
(Q1 = Jan – Mar; Q2 = Apr – Jun; Q3 = Jul – Sep; Q4 = Oct – Dec)
Private healthcare sector market activity
At a glance
Changes from Q2 2024 to Q2 2025:
- Reported private hospital/clinic admissions were down 3% across the UK.
- Private medical insurance admissions decreased by 2%.
- Self-pay admissions decreased by 4%.
- Funding for admissions was 70% insurance and 30% self-pay.
Private healthcare admissions down in the second quarter of 2025
The total number of admissions in Q2 2025 remained at a high level (233,755) but showed a decrease of 2% compared to Q2 2024 (238,980). When comparing the first six months of the past two years, there is a decline of less than 1% (3,175 admissions).
There was a decrease of 2% in insured admissions and 4% in self-pay compared to Q2 2024 (which is the highest Q2 on record).
In Q2 2025, the number of admissions in England and Northern Ireland declined overall by 3%, although self-pay was up by 4% in Northern Ireland. There was a slightly smaller decline in Wales of 2%. However, admissions in Scotland increased by 3%.
Both private medical insurance funded and self-pay admissions dip
Insured admissions
Reported admissions paid for with private medical insurance in Q2 2025 decreased by 2% compared to the same period in 2024. There were 2,585 fewer insured admissions than in Q2 2024 across the UK.
The number of admissions using private medical insurance declined by 2% in England and 8% in Northern Ireland. The number of admissions remained the same in Wales and increased by 3% in Scotland.
Insured admissions decreased in every English region, with the exception of the West Midlands where there was a 2% increase. The biggest decline by volume (1,390) came in the South East. This was a 5% reduction.
Table 1. Q2 admissions by nation or English region with insured payment method (rounded figures)
| Year | Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 | Q2 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nation / Region | |||
| East Midlands | 5,925 | 6,505 | 6,395 |
| East of England | 16,825 | 17,880 | 17,605 |
| London | 54,625 | 61,835 | 61,355 |
| North East | 1,725 | 1,960 | 1,855 |
| North West | 10,060 | 10,760 | 10,700 |
| South East | 28,760 | 30,115 | 28,725 |
| South West | 8,090 | 8,795 | 8,565 |
| West Midlands | 8,200 | 8,665 | 8,885 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 5,605 | 5,770 | 5,660 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,345 | 3,470 | 3,180 |
| Scotland | 6,280 | 7,060 | 7,290 |
| Wales | 3,065 | 3,455 | 3,465 |
| Total | 151,500 | 166,275 | 163,680 |
Self-pay admissions
Self-pay admissions in the UK in Q2 2025 were down by 2,640 (-4%) compared to Q2 2024, which had the second highest ever number of self-pay admissions (72,705). The highest ever total was 72,795 in Q1 2024.
The English regions with the biggest decline in self-pay admissions in Q2 2025 were Yorkshire and The Humber (15%), East of England (10%) and the South East and the South West (both 6%). Wales also saw a decline (4%).
The biggest increases came in the East Midlands, Northern Ireland and Scotland (all 4%).
Table 2. Q2 admissions by nation or English region with self-pay payment method (rounded figures)
| Nation/Region | Q2 2023 | Q2 2024 | Q2 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 3,220 | 3,075 | 3,210 |
| East of England | 7,190 | 6,925 | 6,295 |
| London | 14,160 | 14,600 | 13,990 |
| North East | 1,665 | 1,645 | 1,655 |
| North West | 5,935 | 6,335 | 6,335 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,355 | 2,490 | 2,585 |
| Scotland | 5,670 | 5,955 | 6,165 |
| South East | 10,960 | 11,230 | 10,515 |
| South West | 6,935 | 6,540 | 6,130 |
| Wales | 4,370 | 4,745 | 4,550 |
| West Midlands | 4,850 | 4,900 | 4,975 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 4,105 | 4,260 | 3,615 |
| Total | 71,415 | 72,700 | 70,020 |
There has been little change in the proportion of insured versus self-pay funded admissions in the UK. Because there were fewer self-pay admissions, their proportion was lower than in Q2 2024 but higher than in Q1 2025.
Top 10 procedures UK
There was a reduction in admissions for all but one of the Top 10 by volume when comparing Q2 2025 to Q2 2024.
‘Therapeutics – chemotherapy’ was the only procedure in the Top 10 which had increased admissions; these were up by 310 (1.7%). Patients usually require multiple admissions for chemotherapy treatment and the number of admissions they have varies depending on their treatment cycle.
The Top 3 procedures by Q2 volume are:
- ‘Cataract surgery’ (19,150)
- ‘Therapeutics – chemotherapy’ (18,540)
These procedures vary when split by funding. The Top 3 for self-pay funded admissions are ‘Cataract surgery’, ‘Hip replacement (primary)’ and ‘Knee replacement (primary)’. The Top 3 for insured funded admissions are 'Therapeutics – chemotherapy', ‘Upper GI endoscopy – diagnostic’ and ‘Colonoscopy – diagnostic’.
Other market trends from Q2 2024 to Q2 2025
When looking beyond the Top 10 procedures, there was a 700% increase in ‘Water jet ablation of prostate’, a 600% increase in ‘Eyelid reconstruction’ and a 13% increase in ‘Cardiac ablation’.
‘Weight loss surgery – gastrectomy’ continued to fall in popularity, with a 58% decrease reported.
Active consultants in private healthcare
The number of consultants active in private healthcare regularly fluctuates as new consultants start working in the private sector, and existing ones go on sabbatical, stop working privately, or retire.
In Q2 2025, there were more active consultants (11,317) than in any other quarter over the past five years (although the total was just 46 higher than the previous highest quarter).
The largest volume and percentage increases in active consultants in the top 10 specialties in Q2 2025 were in ‘General Surgery’ with an extra 52 consultants and ‘Medical oncology’ (4.7%) respectively.
‘Gastroenterology’ was the only specialty in the Top 10 with a decrease, with 8 fewer consultants, a reduction of 1.1%.
Patient demographics
Overall admissions dropped by 2% for both sexes and payment types.
Table 3. Volume of admissions by sex and payment method
| Sex | Q2 2024 | Q2 2025 | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 88,215 | 86,965 | -1% |
| Male | 77,650 | 76,395 | -2% |
| Female | 42,900 | 41,065 | -4% |
| Male | 29,285 | 27,820 | -5% |
Admissions decreased across all age groups except for those aged 60-69, which saw a 1% increase (505 extra admissions).
The largest volume decrease was in the 70-79 age group (2,665 fewer admissions) followed by the 50-59 age group (875 fewer admissions). There was a 50% in the 100-109 age group. This was the largest percentage decrease, although this was from a much smaller base.
Private healthcare as proportion of English admissions
Despite the slight decline in private hospital/clinic admissions compared to Q2 2024, the proportion of the total day-case/in-patient admissions conducted in the UK remained at 9%.
There were more ‘NHS Hospital, NHS Funded’ admissions than in Q2 2024.
Important notes (updated)
All data described above is taken from PHIN’s unique, national private dataset describing discharge activity (day case and inpatient). This excludes activity outside of PHIN’s mandate from the Competition and Markets Authority, such as outpatient diagnostics, physiotherapy and mental health services. NHS data comes from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) dataset.
There is a time lag between collecting, validating and processing the data we receive from hospitals before we can publish it. This can be up to six months after treatment has been completed, to ensure a fair process and accurate data.
Occasionally, hospitals may submit data after our deadline. This will not be included in the current quarter’s Market Update, but will added to future ones. For this reason, we always recommend only using figures from the latest Update as they can change.
For ease of use, we have reduced the number of years of data shown in the Market Update. If you would like to access pre-2023 data, please get in touch.
Activity numbers have been rounded to the nearest five, with percentages based on the unrounded figures.
