Private hospital admissions reached record levels in the second quarter of the 2024, with those from private medical insurance (PMI) up 9% year-on-year.
There were 164,000 admissions through PMI in April to June, up from 151,000 a year earlier as the surge in insured claims continued.
However the figure was down slightly from the record 168,000 in the first three months of 2024.
This repeats a similar pattern from 2023, with a peak in Q1 followed by a slight dip and plateau in the next two quarters.
Overall, there were 232,000 private hospital admissions in the second quarter of the year, according to data from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). (See chart below)
This figure was a record for the second quarter of any year and up 4.5% from 222,000 in Q2 2023, although it dipped slightly from the overall record of 240,000 to start the year.
Self-pay admissions reduced slightly from 71,000 a year earlier and also in the previous quarter, but remained well above pre-pandemic levels.
Insured admissions
When comparing Q2 2024 to the corresponding quarter of last year, the number of admissions funded by private medical insurance rose in every English region, bar the South East and North East.
The North East continued to have the fewest insured admissions (2,000) in these quarters.
London once again reported the most insured admissions (rising from 54,000 to 61,000), followed by the South East (29,000).
Insured admissions also rose in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but did not change significantly in Wales.
In terms of self pay, these admissions fell in London, the South East and South West comparing Q2 2024 to Q2 2023. The was no significant change in the other English regions or devolved nations.
Demographics
Breaking the demographics down further, there was an increased number of insured admissions and reduction in self-paid admissions for both sexes compared to the same quarter in 2023.
The growth in insured admissions for men was 6,200 (8.8%) compared to 7,200 (8.9%) for women.
The drop in self-pay was also at a similar level for men at 1,300 (-4.4%) compared to 1,900 (-4.5%) for women.
Admissions for women continued to be higher than for men across both payment methods.
Admissions in all age groups up to and including 60-69 year-olds increased when comparing Q2 2023 and Q2 2024. The largest increase by volume and percentage came in the 10-19 year-old age group.
The data also indicated a decrease in admissions for the 70-79 and 90-99 year old age groups. The rest all increased.
Comparing Q2 2023 and Q2 2024, the use of insurance to pay for admissions rose across every age group. The largest increase by volume was in the 40-49 year-old group. The largest percentage increase (16%) was in the 10-19 year old group.
In contrast, the use of self-pay fell in every age group except 10-19 year-olds where there was a slight (1%) increase. The largest decrease by volume came in the 70-79 year-old group (-810) and the largest percentage decrease was for 90-99 year-olds (13%).
Overall changes
Overall, the largest percentage increase of private admissions came in the 10-19 year age group which was up 12% from 4,500 to 5,000.
The 0-9 year age group also increased from 4,700 to 5,000 (9%).
But these age groups remain some way behind the older ages for numbers of patients being treated – there were 46,900 admissions for 50-59 year olds (up 5%), the highest private patient age group.
In terms of admissions across the UK, Northern Ireland reported by far the largest increase in reported hospital admissions.
While England had the smallest level of growth, it reported the highest volumes of admissions. There was an increase in admissions in every English region except the South East (-0.3%), and Yorkshire and The Humber (-1.2%) which had very small decreases.
Types of procedure
Turning to types of procedure, the data showed there was an increased number of episodes in eight of the top 10 procedures by volume when comparing Q2 2023 and Q2 2024. Therapeutics – chemotherapy had the largest increase (17%).
With robo-assisted surgery now included in the data, there was a 4% reduction in hip replacements and a less than 1% change in the number of knee replacements from Q2 2023.
Robot-assisted hip replacements were up 53% to 590 and knee replacements were up 58% to 790.
Outside the top 10 procedures, breast lifts (-18%), enlargements (-7%) and reductions (-9%) were all down from Q2 2023, as were face lifts (-16%) and weight loss bypass surgery (-20%) and weight loss gastrectomy surgery (-23%) and tummy tucks (-18%).
These are all often cosmetic procedures which aren’t usually available on the NHS or through PMI.
The biggest increase in active consultants in the top 10 procedure groups was for clinical oncology which had the second largest increase in volume (an extra 26 consultants) and the largest percentage increase (14.5%).
Medical oncology was the only specialty in the top 10 that reported a reduction in the number of active consultants with 4 fewer (-1%).
Weight loss surgery down
Richard Wells, director at PHIN, said: “Overall the number of reported private hospital admissions is up on the equivalent quarter in 2023, especially across the most popular procedures, such as cataracts, chemotherapy and diagnostic upper GI endoscopy. However, there are procedures which seem to be bucking this trend.
“The reduction in weight loss surgery admissions could be due to people choosing alternative types of weight loss treatments, the growing availability and popularity of weight loss drugs, or people opting to go abroad for treatment.
“This is something we examine in our new report, Worth the weight?, which is available on our website.”
One area primarily funded by self-pay is cosmetic surgery and several of this type of procedure, including breast lifts (-18%), breast enlargements (-7%) and breast reductions (-9%) were down from Q2 2023, as were face lifts (-16%).
Wells continued: “Often cosmetic procedures are not available on the NHS or through private medical insurance, so self-pay is the only option.
“The fall in the number of people having this sort of procedure may reflect people’s changing priorities or inability to afford to have procedures that aren’t for purely clinical purposes.
“Alternatively, like weight loss surgery, people may be choosing to go abroad for cosmetic surgery.
“We encourage anyone considering private treatment, at home or abroad, to visit our free impartial website first to find out more about their options.”