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 up to, and including, the end of 2025.
The data covers private healthcare in-patient/day-case market activity and includes breakdowns by year for insured cases, ‘self-pay’, Top 10 procedures and demographics.
Private healthcare sector market activity
Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000. The total may not add as this is calculated using the actual figure then rounded.
(Q1 = Jan – Mar; Q2 = Apr – Jun; Q3 = Jul – Sep; Q4 Oct – Dec)
At a glance
Changes from 2024 to 2025:
- Reported private hospital/clinic admissions were up 6% to reach record levels.
- Private medical insurance admissions were up 5% and at their highest ever.
- Self-pay admissions were up 7% to also reach a record total.
- Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec) 2025 had the highest quarterly total (beating the previous record set in Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2025.
Multiple records broken
The total number of private hospital admissions in 2025 was 3,045 (6%) above 2024 meaning that the private sector admissions in Scotland broke the record for the fifth consecutive year.
Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2025 set a record for the number of admissions which was then beaten by Q4 (Oct-Dec). Scotland is unique among the UK nations in regularly having higher admission figures in Q4 than Q1 which is the highest in the other countries.
Although it did not have the largest volume increase, it had the largest percentage increase of all the UK nations.
Record levels of insured and self-pay funded admissions
Insured admissions
There were more admissions (29,470) paid for with private medical insurance in 2025 than in any previous year.
In total, there were 1,405 more insured admissions in 2025 than in 2024 (5% increase).
Self-pay admissions
Self-pay admissions in 2025 were up 7% (an extra 1,640 admissions) compared to 2024.
The proportion of admissions by payment method remained consistent (Insured 55% and self-pay 45%).
Top 10 procedures in Scotland
All but one of the Top 10 procedures in 2025 remained the same as in 2024. The change was that ‘Hysteroscopy – diagnostic’ was replaced by ‘Colonoscopy – therapeutic’. Many of the other procedures were in different positions in the Top 10.
‘Cataract surgery’ remains at number 1, with 690 more reported admissions (an increase of 8.1%) than 2024. It was one of nine procedures in the Top 10 to see an increase. ‘Skin lesion removal’ being the only procedure group in the Top 10 to see a, albeit small, decline.
Changes in most common admissions by payment method
‘Cataract surgery’ is the most popular procedure for either payment method.
There are four procedures that only appear in the PMI funded Top 10. Two of these are known as ‘scopes’. They are ‘Hysteroscopy – diagnostic’ (a gynaecology scope) and ‘Colonoscopy – therapeutic’ (a gastroenterology scope). The other two are ‘Chemotherapy’ and ‘Gallbladder surgery'.
For self-pay the four different procedures are ‘Inguinal hernia repair’ and three cosmetic surgeries: ‘Breast enlargement’, ‘Breast reduction’ and ‘Eyelift- blepharoplasty’. Cosmetic surgeries are not usual covered by the NHS or private medical insurance.
Top 10 procedures by year (2019 - 2025)
| Procedure group | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract surgery | 4,000 | 3,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 | 9,000 | 9,000 |
| Hip replacement (primary) | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Upper GI endoscopy - diagnostic | 2,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Colonoscopy - diagnostic | 2,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Knee arthroscopy | 2,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Therapeutics - chemotherapy | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Knee replacement (primary) | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Inguinal hernia repair | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Colonoscopy - therapeutic | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Skin lesion removal | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
Top 10 procedures by year (2019 - 2025) – Insurance funded
| Procedure group | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract surgery | 1,180 | 745 | 1,235 | 1,720 | 1,815 | 1,800 | 1,855 |
| Colonoscopy - diagnostic | 1,340 | 890 | 1,125 | 1,315 | 1,585 | 1,725 | 1,665 |
| Colonoscopy - therapeutic | 290 | 195 | 395 | 420 | 485 | 600 | 635 |
| Gallbladder surgery - keyhole cholecystectomy | 370 | 215 | 320 | 385 | 425 | 465 | 665 |
| Hip replacement (primary) | 635 | 400 | 520 | 650 | 750 | 750 | 785 |
| Hysteroscopy - diagnostic | 430 | 240 | 355 | 440 | 635 | 610 | 625 |
| Knee arthroscopy | 1,270 | 825 | 1,060 | 1,220 | 1,255 | 1,445 | 1,540 |
| Knee replacement (primary) | 445 | 240 | 300 | 365 | 505 | 420 | 405 |
| Therapeutics - chemotherapy | 1,200 | 1,640 | 1,595 | 1,695 | 1,005 | 1,150 | 1,300 |
| Upper GI endoscopy - diagnostic | 2,120 | 1,010 | 1,470 | 1,510 | 1,515 | 1,750 | 1,995 |
Top 10 procedures by year (2019 - 2025) – Self-pay funded
| Procedure group | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast enlargement | 375 | 180 | 265 | 290 | 415 | 380 | 415 |
| Breast reduction | 315 | 125 | 295 | 390 | 475 | 380 | 405 |
| Cataract surgery | 2,895 | 2,655 | 5,985 | 6,120 | 6,730 | 6,700 | 7,335 |
| Colonoscopy - diagnostic | 280 | 190 | 335 | 340 | 295 | 310 | 295 |
| Eyelid lift - blepharoplasty | 190 | 65 | 135 | 205 | 365 | 380 | 450 |
| Hip replacement (primary) | 635 | 675 | 1,505 | 1,880 | 1,905 | 1,870 | 1,865 |
| Inguinal hernia repair | 260 | 225 | 490 | 545 | 555 | 585 | 650 |
| Knee arthroscopy | 350 | 240 | 380 | 415 | 370 | 410 | 480 |
| Knee replacement (primary) | 295 | 225 | 570 | 745 | 780 | 720 | 745 |
| Upper GIP endoscopy - diagnostic | 295 | 285 | 490 | 365 | 305 | 375 | 395 |
As might be expected with record admission figures, there were more active consultants in the private sector in Scotland than ever before.
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.
There were an additional nine consultants working in ‘Trauma & orthopaedics’ which was the largest increase of any of the Top 10 specialties. It is also the specialist with the most active consultants (148).
The largest decline came in ‘Plastic surgery’ where there were eight fewer consultants than in 2024.
Patient demographics
Payment method
There was an increased number of insured admissions for both sexes in 2025 compared to 2024. Female insured funded admissions increased by 4.8% and male admissions 5.1%.
Reported female self-pay funded admissions rose by 4.5% and male admissions saw a larger increase up by 7.8%. There continues to be more female admissions across both payment methods.
Volume of admissions by sex and payment method
| Sex | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | |||||||
| Insured | 12,520 | 7,755 | 10,400 | 11,345 | 12,845 | 14,295 | 14,980 |
| Self-pay | 6,730 | 4,500 | 9,695 | 10,920 | 12,925 | 13,110 | 13,700 |
| Male | |||||||
| Insured | 11,115 | 6,375 | 9,230 | 10,920 | 12,360 | 13,735 | 14,435 |
| Self-pay | 4,525 | 3,735 | 7,380 | 8,370 | 8,890 | 9,525 | 10,265 |
Volume of admissions by age
There was an increase in admissions in all age groups, compared to 2024, except 0-9 year olds. The largest volume increase was in the 60 to 69 age group (890). Both the 60 to 69 and 40 to 49 age groups had a 9% increase.
Important notes
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.
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 6 months after treatment has been completed, to ensure a fair process and accurate data.
Not all records submitted to PHIN contain complete data (e.g. they may miss patient sex) so there can appear to be discrepancies between totals.
Activity numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, with percentage based on the unrounded figures.
