Private medical insurance and self-pay admissions both high, but for different types of procedure

There were a record 953,000 reported admissions at the UK’s private hospitals in 2025 according to the latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). This is the fourth successive year where a record level has been set.

The total was mainly driven by the highest ever number of insurance funded patients (670,000). There was a smaller increase in those using self-pay taking the total to 283,000.

Cataract surgery remained the most common reason to be admitted to a private hospital, but ‘Chemotherapy’ had the biggest admissions increase by volume (4,690) and percentage (6.3%) in the Top 10 procedures.

As well as more patients, there were more active consultants in the private sector than ever in 2025 reaching nearly 13,400. This was a 2.9% increase on 2024.

Richard Wells, Director of Technology and Insights at PHIN said: “The continued growth in admissions for admitted care shows the importance of the private sector in maintaining and improving health in UK.

“Both private medical insurance and self-pay admissions (where people use their savings or loans to pay for their procedure) were at very high levels. Our data shows though that there are distinct differences between the type of procedures people have, depending on how it is being funded.

“Cataract surgery is the most popular procedure overall, but it is only the third most popular for admissions funded by private medical insurance. Chemotherapy is the most popular with two diagnostic procedures (Upper GI endoscopy and Colonoscopy) making up the top 4.

“However, for self-pay, the ‘traditional’ big 3 of private healthcare – Cataract surgery, Hip replacement (primary) and Knee replacement (primary) – remain the three most popular admissions.

“While they also pay for diagnostic procedures, the biggest difference from insured admissions comes in the form of cosmetic surgeries. Procedures such as ‘Breast enlargement’, ‘Breast implants’ and ‘Breast reduction’ all feature in the self-pay Top 10 and are not usually available on the NHS or through insurance.”

“This diversity demonstrates the role the private sector plays in facilitating patient choice in terms of the procedures they have, where they have them and how they are paid for. Our government-backed, independent website (www.phin.org.uk) is here to help patients understand the choices available to them, whether using private medical insurance, self-pay or as an NHS funded patient at a private hospital.”