Guide
UK private hospital price lists: who publishes them and how to read one
Updated
Searching for a UK private hospital price list is reasonable, and partly frustrating. Some prices are genuinely published. Others are not published anywhere, for a specific regulatory reason worth knowing.
Why there is no single national price list
PHIN is the government-mandated, industry-certified body that publishes information about the safety, quality and costs of private healthcare in the UK. On the question of hospital prices it is explicit: "We aren't yet able to collect hospital costs as that's not one of the requirements put on hospitals by the Private Healthcare Investigation Order, which sets out the data PHIN can collect" (PHIN, updated 16 June 2026). So the absence of one authoritative national list is a fact about the regulatory remit, not evidence that hospitals are hiding something.
What is published, and by whom
- Group-level national price lists
- Some groups publish one list that applies across their hospitals. Practice Plus Group, for example, publishes a treatment price list covering consultation, diagnostic imaging, endoscopy, eye, ENT, general and orthopaedic surgery, stating prices correct as at June 2026 and that they are subject to change without prior notice (price list).
- Per-hospital quotes
- Other groups price by hospital and by case, so the published material is an enquiry route rather than a number. That is not evasion: theatre time, length of stay and consultant fees genuinely differ by site.
- Averages published by PHIN
- PHIN has researched average self-pay package prices by location for three common procedures from publicly available data collected in March 2026, and describes them as a guide only, adding that "the price you pay will be impacted by your personal circumstances" (PHIN average package prices).
- Consultant fee information
- PHIN publishes consultant profiles, on which consultants can enter their fees and their fee arrangements with insurers. Searching a named consultant on phin.org.uk is the closest thing to a public directory of private consultant fees in the UK.
How to read two quotes side by side
- Write both quotes out as the components in our cost table, not as two headline numbers.
- Add the consultation fee to both, since it usually sits outside the package.
- Add any diagnostics each provider says would be charged separately.
- Note the number of nights and follow-ups each package assumes; a shorter assumed stay makes a cheaper headline.
- Compare the complications policies last. This is where two apparently identical prices stop being identical.
Checking the provider, not just the price
In England, a provider carrying out surgery must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. Surgical procedures and diagnostic and screening procedures are separate regulated activities under Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and CQC states that "it is an offence to carry on a regulated activity without being registered" (CQC scope of registration, updated 29 January 2025). CQC also requires that a provider display its rating where you can see it, and include that information on its website (CQC fundamental standards, updated 3 March 2026). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulators.