Private healthcare sector market activity

In-patient/day-care admissions comparison Q1 2019 – Q2 2024

Q2 2024 in Scotland at a glance

• There were 12,660 reported private in-patient/day-care admissions in Scotland, the highest ever quarterly total.
• Unlike wider UK figures have increased from Q1 2024.
• Admissions up 7% from Q2 2023.
• The use of private medical insurance (PMI) was up 12% from the same quarter in 2023 and at a record high.
• Self-pay – where patients fund their own treatment from their savings, a loan or fundraising – remained at the same level as Q2 2023, but was up slightly (1%) from Q1 2024.

Record independent healthcare in-patient admissions in Scotland in Q1 2024

There were 12,660 reported admissions in Q2 2024, a 7% increase on the equivalent quarter in 2023, and a 1% increase from the previous highest quarter (Q1 2024).

Admission change by volume in Scotland (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

Private medical insurance admissions continue to grow and self-pay is unchanged

Insured admissions

When comparing Q2 2024 to Q2 2023, the number of admissions funded by private medical insurance were up by 12% in Scotland. There was also a 1% increase on the previous quarter (Q14 2024), which had been the previous record high.

Admissions paid for with insurance have increased in nine of the last 11 quarters and have been above pre-pandemic levels for the past six quarters (since Q1 2023).

The proportion of people paying for treatment using insurance rose from 50% to 54% from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024.

Self-pay admissions

Self-pay admissions in Scotland had been falling since Q2 2023, but they rose in Q1 2024 and remained up reaching the second highest level ever in Q2 2024.

Insured and Self-pay change by % (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024) (based on non-rounded figures)

Admissions (rounded) in Scotland by payment method (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

Top 10 procedures (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

There was an increase in reported admissions in all of the top 10 procedures by volume when comparing Q2 2023 and Q2 2024, except for ‘Bladder examination via cystocopy’. ‘Hip replacement (primary)’ and ‘Knee replacement (primary) both show declines, but this is because PHIN now reports those procedures separately where robot-assisted surgery is used. This is a growing field which we want to keep an eye on.

‘Cataract surgery’ had the biggest increase by volume (95) and ‘Upper GI endoscopy – diagnostic’ had the biggest percentage increase (-28%) of the Top 10 procedures.

Active consultants in private healthcare

The number of consultants active in private healthcare reached its highest ever level in Scotland in Q2 2024, up 5% on Q2 2023. 

Quarterly comparison of active consultants for the top 10 PHIN specialties (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

The largest increase in active consultants in the top 10 procedure groups by percentage (10%) and volume (12) was in ‘Trauma & orthopaedics’. The only specialties with fewer active consultants than in Q2 2023 are ‘Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)’ and ‘Gastroenterology’.

Patient demographics

Volume of admissions by sex and payment method (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

There was an increased number of insured admissions for both sexes compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Insured admissions for females both grew by 12%, and for males by 14%.

For self-pay, female patient admissions reduced (-2.2%) and male patient admissions rose (4.4%).

Purchaser type and sex (Q2 2023 v Q2 2024)

Change in volume of admissions by age

There was an increase in admissions in all age groups from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024 until the 80-89 and subsequent age-groups. The largest increase by volume was in the 70-79 age-group (210). The 30-39 age group had the third biggest increase by volume (140) and the largest percentage increase (12%).

The 50-59 age-group, which is traditionally the highest user of private healthcare had one of the lowest percentage increases (5%).

The 90-99 age-group had the largest reduction in volume (-10) and percentage decrease (-10%).

Important notes

All data described above 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 and mental health.

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.

Activity numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, with percentage based on the unrounded figures.