Before the pandemic hit in 2020, annual private admissions were typically between 700,000 and 800,000. Today they are 920,000. Of these roughly 650,000 - roughly seven in ten private patients - are paid for through private health insurance.

By Lucy Johnston, Health and Social Affairs Editor of the Sunday Express

13:11, Tue, Mar 10, 2026 Updated: 13:11, Tue, Mar 10, 2026

Surge in private hospital admissions since Covid

Surge in private hospital admissions since Covid (Image: Getty)

Almost one million patients a year are admitted to private hospitals - the highest recorded and 25 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The new figures also show that the growth is overwhelmingly being driven by private health insurance, which paid out a record £4 billion in claims in 2024, up 13 per cent on the previous year, according to the Association of British Insurers. This is the equivalent of around £11 million a day being spent on private consultations, scans and surgery.

Before the pandemic hit in 2020, annual private admissions were typically between 700,000 and 800,000. Today they are 920,000. Of these roughly 650,000 - roughly seven in ten private patients - are paid for through private health insurance.

Self-pay admissions - where patients use their own savings - have levelled off at around 270,000 a year, making up just under a third of the total.

Private healthcare activity collapsed during the first lockdown, when hospitals paused routine services and the independent sector was used to support the NHS.

But once restrictions were lifted, demand surged.

Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at independent consultancy Broadstone, which analysed the figures said: “Private healthcare and company-funded benefits are helping people access diagnosis and treatment faster, easing pressure on overstretched NHS services and supporting quicker returns to work and workplace productivity.

“As higher claims volumes have driven higher premium costs for private medical insurance, so employers are increasingly looking for ways to support workplace wellbeing with ill-health prevention strategies, recognising that a small investment to prevent ill health can reduce the risk of expensive claims that might otherwise drive up premium costs.”

Joint problems are among the most common reason

Joint problems are among the most common reason (Image: Getty)

Part of the increase in demand for private healthcare has been blamed on the rise in hospital waiting lists. Before Covid, England’s NHS waiting list stood at around 4.4 million in early 2020 and has since then climbed to over 7 million. Despite recent marginal improvements, it still sits dramatically above pre-pandemic levels.

The pressure is particularly acute in musculoskeletal (MSK) care - covering hip replacements, knee surgery and spinal procedures - which account for one of the largest chunks of the NHS elective backlog.

The surge in unmet healthcare need is now feeding into a wider economic debate - and placing fresh pressure on the Treasury.

With Britain grappling with sluggish growth and high levels of economic inactivity, business leaders argue that faster access to healthcare is critical to keeping people in work.

This was highlighted by the Government-backed Keep Britain Working Review, led by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield, published last autumn, which called on employers to step up health support to staff to stop them dropping out of the workforce. The research also raised the prospect of tax reform to encourage workplace health schemes.

The report, designed to tackle the surge in long-term sickness keeping millions out of jobs, found that around 2.8 million working-age people are now economically inactive due to ill health - a sharp rise since Covid. It warned that sickness has become one of the biggest brakes on UK growth and productivity.

2..8 m of working age inactive due to ill health

2..8 m of working age inactive due to ill health (Image: Getty)

Proponents say offering targeted tax incentives would speed up treatment, reduce long term sickness, ease NHS pressure and support economic growth.

Critics, however, would likely question whether tax breaks for employer-funded health cover risk formalising a two-tier system.

Tony Sullivan, co-chair of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public said: “When the NHS has been funded to meet the needs of the population, access to private health care has been static. This is a sign of how successive governments have failed to provide an essential public service to provide universal healthcare for all.”

He added that the growth of the private sector also, “undermines the resilience and strength of the NHS as there is only one pool of nurses, doctors, consultants and theatre technicians which are both employed and trained by the NHS.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This government inherited a broken NHS and we're committed to ending the two-tier healthcare system that leaves patients feeling they have no choice but to go private.

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“We are making progress to tackle waiting times and the NHS delivered record levels of activity last year - but we know there’s more to do. We have set up more evening and weekend clinics, new community diagnostic centres, expanded surgical hubs, hired more healthcare staff and rolled out better technology, to ensure patients get the care they need, when they need it.”