The latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) showed 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.

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.'

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.

Wells added: ‘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.'