The private healthcare provider, which is currently in takeover talks, said NHS volumes, which account for 30% of hospital revenue, were a ‘material uncertainty' due to ICB budgetary constraints.

The update followed a report last month that an NHS cap on surgery budgets had resulted in a pause of some treatments in private hospitals.

Spire Healthcare reported FY2025 NHS revenue growth of 11.4% y/y, including a strong H1 at 16.2% y/y before moderating to 6.8% y/y in H2, reflecting reduced commissioning activity late last year. Over 60% of NHS admissions were in orthopaedics (high acuity) procedures.

In its FY2026 outlook, the private healthcare operator said it expected NHS ‘budgetary constraints to remain'.

The company commented: ‘As a result, we do not anticipate a return to NHS y/y revenue growth during this period, but we expect a meaningful improvement in Q2-Q4 y/y performance relative to the Q1 decline. As a reminder, the provisional tariff for 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme prices is an annual uplift of c.0%, significantly below the prevailing rate of inflation.'