The Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) has launched a national-level service showing how private hospital admissions, length of stay and safety incidents vary by patient characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnicity and pre-existing conditions.
The Patient Insights Explorer presents clear, plain English summaries and interactive charts covering three areas of care, the organisation said.
These are:
- Admissions – how often people are admitted to private hospitals,
- Stays – how long people stay in private hospitals, and
- Incidents – safety related events currently including surgical site infections, with simple filters for nation and payment method, either self-pay or insured.
For example, for a hip replacement (primary) insured patients suffered 35 surgical site infections from 12,104 admissions – a rate of 0.29%.
However self-paying patients suffered 51 surgical site infections from 15,487 procedures – a rate of 0.33%.
The data does not breakdown the location or practitioner performing the proceedures yet.
PHIN noted that at launch the tool includes age, gender, ethnicity and uses a patient friendly version of the Charlson Comorbidity Index – a tool which predicts 10-year survival in patients with multiple pre-existing conditions – to calculate comorbidity.
These comorbidities and pre-existing conditions are where a patient has one or more medical conditions or diseases alongside their primary condition and can complicate treatment and impact a patient’s outcomes.
While the tool currently offers insights into national level views of admissions, stays and incidents by age, gender, ethnicity, and pre-existing conditions, with filters for nation and payment method whether that be self-pay or self insured, planned future iterations will expand content in line with PHIN’s delivery plan and user feedback, it added.
PHIN said this launch delivered on its commitment to publish national level breakdowns by patient characteristics in line with its Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) mandated strategy and delivery plan.
It also supports its strategy to fully implement the CMA’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order by the end of June 2026.
Dr Ian Gargan, chief executive at PHIN (pictured), said: “People want trustworthy, easy to understand information when they are weighing up their options. Our vision is that everyone can make confident choices about their healthcare to get the best outcomes, and our new Patient Insights Explorer moves us closer to that.
“By adding essential context to the national picture, we are helping patients understand who typically receives private care and what a typical stay looks like. The tool also supports providers to drive improvements in their services.”
Dr Chris Smith-Brown, clinical adviser at PHIN, added: “We have designed the explorer with patients at its core. By using patient-friendly language and high-level, national breakdowns, we give useful insight without overwhelming people or risking the privacy of individuals.
“This new tool builds on the range of information on the PHIN website that is already available to people considering private healthcare, including hospital and consultant profiles, as well as guides on a variety of healthcare topics.”