Responding to a report from Healthwatch England and fears of a two tier health system , Dr Ian Gargan, Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) Chief Executive said:

“There has been year-on-year growth in patient admissions to the UK’s private hospitals and clinics ever since PHIN began collecting data, with the exception of the pandemic years. 2023 and 2024 each saw more than 900,000 private admissions and that pattern looks set to have continued in 2025.

“This growth appears to have been largely driven by long NHS waits, and the fact that patients often don’t know where they sit on the list. This can mean they fear they’ve been forgotten about by the NHS, so turn to the private sector for more clarity and faster results. The increasing awareness and availability of private medical insurance is also playing its part. 70% of private admissions are funded in this way.

“The two parts of the healthcare sector have always worked in partnership sharing patients, information and resources. Patients should understand that they can use the private sector without leaving the NHS.

“Insured or self-pay admissions at private hospitals currently make up between 6% and 7% of total admissions in England. A further 5% are admissions to private hospitals that are paid for by NHS England to help reduce waiting times. The overwhelming majority of admissions (88%) are funded by NHS England and conducted in its hospitals.

“Although growing, private in-patient treatment and procedures represent a declining proportion of the activity undertaken in a hospital. Only about 13% of costs are attributable to in-patient stays. This means that the vast majority of private care provided is now in an outpatient setting.

“We also know that models of care are changing, and increasingly treatments which previously required an in-patient stay can now be delivered in an outpatient setting, so we are set to see even more people turning to the private sector for non urgent treatment and diagnostic tests.”