Most of those admissions were funded by private medical insurance, up 9% on the same quarter in 2023. Reported ‘self-pay’ admissions reduced slightly, but remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The biggest percentage increase came in the 10-19 year age group which was up 12% from 4,500 to 5,000. The 0-9 year age group also increased from 4,700 to 5,000 (9%). These age groups remain some way behind the older ages for numbers of patients being treated – there were 46,900 admissions for 50-59 year olds (up 5%), the highest private patient age group.

Private hospital admissions up overall, but some procedures down

The number of admissions for two popular forms of weight-loss surgery – bypass operations (-20%) and gastrectomy (-23%) – showed a decrease.

Richard Wells, PHIN Director, said: “Overall the number of reported private hospital admissions is up on the equivalent quarter in 2023, especially across the most popular procedures, such as cataracts, chemotherapy and diagnostic upper GI endoscopy. However, there are procedures which seem to be bucking this trend.

“The reduction in weight-loss surgery admissions could be due to people choosing alternative types of weight-loss treatments, the growing availability and popularity of weight-loss drugs, or people opting to go abroad for treatment. This is something we examine in our new report, Worth the weight?, which is available on our website.”

One area primarily funded by ‘self-pay’ is cosmetic surgery and several of this type of procedure, including breast lifts (-18%), breast enlargements (-7%) and breast reductions (-9%) were down from Q2 2023, as were face lifts (-16%).

Richard explained: “Often cosmetic procedures are not available on the NHS or through private medical insurance, so self-pay is the only option. The fall in the number of people having this sort of procedure may reflect people’s changing priorities or inability to afford to have procedures that aren’t for purely clinical purposes. Alternatively, like weight-loss surgery, people may be choosing to go abroad for cosmetic surgery.”

“We encourage anyone considering private treatment, at home or abroad, to visit our free impartial website first to find out more about their options.”

PHIN produces its quarterly Private Healthcare Market Update as part of its work to increase transparency in the healthcare sector and ensure that ‘Everyone can make confident choices about their healthcare to get the best outcomes’.