How to choose a private hospital

What to look for in a private hospital

From cost to consultant expertise, hospital safety records to its location, the list detailing what to look for in a private hospital can be lengthy.

The sections below break down all the things you need to take into consideration when choosing a private hospital for your treatment.

Quality and safety

Let’s start with perhaps the most important factor to consider: quality and safety. These two metrics measure how well a hospital, surgical centre, or medical facility protects its patients from harm while delivering successful, evidence-based treatments.

Reading past patient reviews and checking CQC scores is a great way of finding the reassurance and confidence needed to take the next steps for your treatment.

The right treatment for your needs

It might sound fairly obvious but you need to make sure the hospital or medical centre you’re choosing can accommodate the treatment and care you need. A quick glance at our Treatments page provides a comprehensive rundown of the procedures we offer at Practice Plus Group.

Consultant expertise

This is an important one because you need to know how long a consultant has been practising in their specific field and how many procedures they carry out on a yearly basis.

For example, imagine you need a knee replacement. Knowing the consultant you’ve chosen successfully completes hundreds of these procedures every year can provide you with valuable peace of mind that you’re in the right hands.

Location and convenience

While this is an important factor for some patients, for others, it may not even feature on their radar when choosing a private hospital. Some patients will specifically choose a private hospital that’s close to home because they don’t want to travel far. Instead, they can rely on public transport or friends to help them get to and from the hospital on the day of their treatment.

On the other hand, if you don’t mind travelling a long way, your list of potential hospitals and consultants grows. Some patients are happy to travel up to three hours for a routine pain injection with a specific consultant or hospital. That’s because they trust the service provided to deliver the best possible care for their specific situation.

Clear pricing and payment options

No-one wants to have the wool pulled over their eyes, especially when it comes to money. At Practice Plus Group, we believe that clear treatment pricing, alongside providing multiple ways to access private healthcare help to foster patient trust.

All our prices are fixed with no hidden costs or charges. Our consultations are £145 and the prices for our treatments (if needed) can be found on our pricing page. During a consultation (which costs £145), your consultant may recommend further diagnostic investigation in the form of MRI or CT scans. These will incur further costs beyond the consultation fee.

There are three ways you can access private healthcare with us:

• paying for yourself (via a one-off lump sum)
• paying for yourself (via a payment plan)
• via a private health insurance policy.

You may find useful:

• How much does it cost to see a private consultant?

Check quality ratings and inspection reports

Another major factor you need to consider when choosing a private hospital is its rating. How well is it run? Does it deliver safe and effective healthcare to its patients? Does it meet the standards required to operate as a medical facility?

All of these questions can be answered by looking at the CQC ratings. CQC stands for Care Quality Commission, an independent regulator of healthcare in England. This organisation monitors and rates the standards and services provided by a medical facility so the public can see its performance.

Ratings range from ‘Inadequate’ at the wrong end of the scale to ‘Outstanding’ at the other. They take into account safety standards and can take action when these standards aren’t being met. This is typically in the form of a fine but the CQC do have the power to close a facility down.

What the ratings actually tell you

CQC ratings have four tiers. These are as follows:

• Outstanding: service is performing at an exceptionally high level
• Good: the service or facility is meeting the required expectations for safe, quality healthcare
• Requires improvement: the service or facility is falling below the required standards
• Inadequate: the service is performing well below the expected standards and the CQC is taking action.

Currently, all of Practice Plus Group’s hospitals and surgical centres hold either an ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ CQC rating.

Think about the treatment you need

As we mentioned at the top of this blog – the highest rated or closest hospital to you doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best. As the title of this section instructs, think about the specific treatment you need. You may want to consider the following questions:

• Does the hospital you’re researching (or perhaps have already chosen) specialise in it?
• How many consultants do they have that can carry out the procedure you need?
• How much experience do they have in carrying it out?
• What do the reviews from past patients say about their overall experience, not just the treatment?

The sections below explore these questions in more detail.

Choose a hospital that offers your treatment regularly

If you need cataract surgery, you don’t necessarily need to choose a private hospital that only offers that procedure. However, if a consultant or hospital carries out hundreds or thousands of cataract surgeries each year, it’s almost guaranteed they’re going to be experts. Knowing you’re in safe hands can go a long way when it comes to your decision-making.

Look at the patient pathway, not just the operation

Past patient reviews are a great source of insight when it comes to consultant and hospital choice. They offer information on how their experience with a consultant or a hospital made them feel, not just whether the treatment was a success.

Look for patient reviews that talk about consistency of care, from the consultant all the way to nursing teams and even reception staff.

Check what support is available before and after treatment

Aftercare during recovery is just as important as the treatment itself. At Practice Plus Group, all aftercare is included in the cost of your private treatment. This includes any physio sessions needed, post-treatment medication, and any equipment required.

You may find useful:

• Find expert cataract consultants near you
• Find expert hip consultants near you
• Find expert knee consultants near you

Choose the right consultant as well as the right hospital

We briefly touched on this earlier, but now it’s time to take a closer look at the importance of choosing both the right consultant and hospital for you.

Why consultant choice matters

Choosing the right consultant for you is important. Not only will your chosen specialist be carrying out your treatment, he or she will be the one in charge of your consultation, and therefore diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan.

This plan will shape your recovery process too, so it’s well worth putting in the time researching the best one for you. You should look for specialisms, the number of procedures they carry out each year, and qualifications. Don’t forget to check out what past patients have said about their experiences too – these are invaluable to shaping your final decision.

Questions to ask before booking

It’s estimated the average person asks between 500,000 and 2 million questions during their lifetime. So, it’s safe to assume you’ll have some on your mind at the point of booking. Below is a list of questions that may help with your final decision:

• How do I know if surgery is right for me?
• What will my aftercare look like?
• What can I expect from my treatment with you?
• What are the pros and cons of my surgery?
• How do I choose the right surgeon for me?
• How healthy do I need to be before surgery?
• Will my insurance cover my surgery?
• How can I pay for my surgery?

You may find useful:

• How to choose a consultant for your surgery
• What to expect at a surgery consultation

Compare costs and payment options

So, we’ve covered consultants, treatments, and hospital quality ratings. Now it’s time to explore the financial side of private healthcare.

This section looks at what’s included in the cost, how you can access private healthcare, and how to find out whether you’re getting bang for your buck.

Self-pay or health insurance?

Our first stop is accessing private healthcare. You can typically cover the cost of treatment the following ways:

• Self-pay: paying for yourself can be done in one of two different ways. The first is to cover the cost in a one-off lump sum. If you have the financial means, self-pay hospital treatment is a great option to choose because you get the financial side out of the way early, leaving you free to focus on your recovery. The second way is to cover the cost via a payment plan. These are set over a specific timeframe, during which you pay for your treatment in monthly instalments. There are certain eligibility criteria you’ll need to meet before you can proceed, but this option makes accessing private healthcare a lot more flexible.
• Insured: if you have private medical insurance, you may be able to use it to cover some or all of the cost of your treatment. Before you can become an insured patient, you’ll need to check with your insurance provider if the treatment you need is included in your policy before you can proceed to booking. At Practice Plus Group, we work with all the major UK health insurance providers.

What is usually included in the price?

This varies depending on the private healthcare provider. For example, some break the costs down by service, meaning that if you need physiotherapy during your recovery, you’ll need to pay an extra cost. Others charge different prices to see consultants based on their level of expertise and experience, which can contribute to costs rising quickly.

At Practice Plus Group, as a private patient you’ll pay £145 for your initial consultation which includes blood tests, swabs, and x-rays (if needed). Extra costs will be incurred if your consultant recommends further diagnostic imaging (e.g. CT or MRI scans) but aside from the consultation, you’ll only then need to pay the cost of your treatment. Everything else – from your hospital stay to your post-treatment physio and medication – is included.

Why price transparency matters

At Practice Plus Group, we believe high-quality private healthcare should be accessible, transparent, and clearly priced.

A private consultation costs £145 and appointments are available within 1 to 2 weeks. Your consultation includes:

• an appointment with an expert consultant of your choice
• any required X-rays
• any required bloodwork, and swabs (where necessary)
• a diagnosis and tailored treatment plan.

If treatment is recommended for you, you’ll benefit from:

• swift treatment just 4 to 6 weeks after your consultation
• fixed package pricing – unlike other private hospitals who add on extra costs, our prices include everything related to your surgery: surgery itself, anaesthetist, operating theatre, hospital stay, medication, post-op checks, aftercare and physiotherapy.
• an expert surgeon, of your choice, leading your care.
• a hospital of your choice – we have a network of hospitals to choose from.
• a private healthcare co-ordinator assigned to you, personally, who will be there to answer questions and support you through your healthcare journey.

You may find useful:

• How much does it cost to see a private consultant?

Read patient reviews, but use the carefully

Private hospital reviews from past patients are a powerful way of gaining insight into the nuts and bolts of what to expect from a healthcare experience. However, while invaluable, some should be taken with a pinch of salt.

We explore why in the sections below.

What reviews can tell you

Patient reviews can represent a goldmine of information about a hospital or consultant. They tell you how patients felt about their overall experience, what the hospital environment was like, how the staff interacted with them, and how the specific details of their care made them feel.

Through patient reviews, you may be able to gather information that’s not necessarily readily available, such as:

• waiting times
• ease of access (from booking to getting to the hospital itself)
• communication levels between staff
• expectations around the timings for your procedure.

What reviews cannot tell you

While reviews are powerful, they do have certain limitations. For example, while a patient may offer criticism about a diagnosis or surgical technique, it’s highly unlikely that the reviewer is qualified in the required area.

Likewise, while a consultant may not have the warmest bedside manner, he or she may boast excellent surgical results which won’t necessarily be reflected in a patient review. With this in mind, it’s worth looking for patterns and not on-off comments when doing your reviewing research. One or two negative reviews amongst hundreds of positive ones shouldn’t be enough to put you off when choosing a private hospital.

Consider location, travel, and convenience

Just behind cost and waiting times on the list of the most important considerations when choosing a private hospital is its location. Searching Google for ‘private hospitals near me’ is a good start but before you make your hospital choice, it’s worth bearing in mind the information set out in the sections below.

Travel time for appointments and surgery

Some patients will specifically choose a private hospital that’s close to home because they don’t want to travel far. Instead, they can rely on public transport or friends to help them get to and from the hospital on the day of their treatment.

On the other hand, if you don’t mind travelling a long way, your list of potential hospitals and consultants grows. Some patients are happy to travel hours for their treatment with a specific consultant or hospital. That’s because they trust the service provided to deliver the best possible care for their specific situation.

Parking, transport, and visiting

These may seem trivial but they’re worth considering in the grand scheme of things. Some private hospitals provide free parking for patients and visitors while others are pay and display only. If you’re likely to be in hospital for more than one day, you may want to organise for friends and family to visit. Most hospitals allot specific windows of time for visitors, so it’s worth familiarising yourself with these once you’ve booked in for your treatment.

While there are some treatments that permit you to drive afterwards, most will restrict your ability to do so for at least a few hours. With this in mind, you will either need to rely on public transport or organise for a friend to get you to and from the hospital. If you’re coming from afar, this involves making sure you’re happy with the transport or road systems before booking yourself in.

Why choose Practice Plus Group for private treatment?

While the reasons to choose us for your private healthcare are numerous and listed below, the main one to call out is our patient-centred approach. We put our patients at the heart of everything we do, from tailored and consistent care to easily accessible ways to pay, we strive to uphold high-quality healthcare across the board.

• Clear, straightforward patient pathways from referral to recovery
• Fast access to diagnostics, treatment and surgery
• Access private care via self-pay, insured, or payment plan options
• Modern hospitals and diagnostic centres across England
• Consultant-led care focused on safety and outcomes.

We’re also one of the largest independent healthcare providers in England, delivering urgent, diagnostic and planned care services across our hospital and clinical network.

• Thousands of patients treated each year
• Nationwide network of hospitals and diagnostic services
• Strong experience across urgent and elective care pathways
• Consistently high standards of clinical quality and patient safety.

James Wood, Content Specialist