Access to treatment
There are many different reasons why you might want to choose private care. For example:
you might be able to see a specialist faster
you may be able to choose your specialist or hospital
you want to access different types of treatment or a treatment that isn’t available through free healthcare
you want to ask for a second opinion
In Northern Ireland free healthcare is called Health and Social Care (HSC). In England, Scotland and Wales this is called the National Health Service (NHS).
You need to pay for any care or treatment you have privately. There are different ways you can do this:
private health insurance – you pay into a health insurance policy and your insurance company then pays for your care if this is covered in the policy
employer health insurance – your employer might pay for private health insurance for you
self-funding – you pay for any treatment yourself
Private healthcare can be expensive. If you are self-funding, your specialist can give you an estimate of the cost. This includes tests you might have and your treatment. It helps to know how much everything costs beforehand. But there may be other costs that the specialist cannot predict. For example, if you become unwell you might need other treatments to help with this. Some private health insurance companies don’t pay for all types of treatment. Check with them before you book an appointment.
There are different ways that you can get an appointment with a specialist privately. These are:
GP referral – you can ask your GP to refer you to a private specialist. You might have to pay for the referral
specialist referral – your cancer specialist may be able to refer you to a private specialist or hospital
self referral – you can contact a private clinic or hospital yourself, and book an appointment
If you have private health insurance, speak to them before you get a referral. They may have rules on what you need to do.
The private hospital will ask for information about:
your medical history
the reason you want the appointment
how you plan to pay
You might already know who you would like to see privately. Or you might even want to see the same specialist as you are seeing on the NHS or HSC.
If you don’t know who is the best specialist for you, it can be difficult to choose. You can find details of private specialists and hospitals on several websites.
You can search the PHIN and goprivate directories for free. The general public must subscribe (pay) to access the specialistinfo directory.
All private hospitals in the UK are registered and inspected. The organisation responsible for this depends on where you live:
Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England
Healthcare Improvement Scotland in Scotland
Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) in Wales
If you choose to have private care, you don’t lose your right to NHS treatment. You can choose to move back to NHS care. For example, you might choose to see a private specialist to have tests and have your treatment through the NHS.
If you decide to move back to NHS care, you do not move to the front of the waiting list. Your referral will be treated in the same way as any others. Cancer referrals are usually managed urgently.
There are organisations that review new treatments and drugs. They decide whether the new treatments and drugs should be available on the NHS. These include the:
Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
NICE generally make recommendations for healthcare in England and Wales. Northern Ireland usually follows NICE decisions.
Get more information about how medicines become available on the NHS and HSC
You might choose to have private treatment if:
the treatment is not routinely available on the NHS, for example because organisations such as NICE or SMC have not recommended it for NHS use
you want access to a treatment that is not widely available or where there is still uncertainty about how well it works for some types of cancer
Talk to your specialist before you pay for a treatment. Ask them about the possible risks and benefits of having a treatment that might not be recommended or fully researched. You can also ask what other treatment options are available.
Not all health insurance will cover these medicines. Talk to your insurance provider to check before you start treatment.
Find out about paying for additional treatment and the NHS
You can ask for a second opinion as part of the NHS. You don’t have to pay privately to see another specialist. But some people choose to go privately. For example, they might want to see another specialist quickly and not have to wait. Or they may want to see a specialist that they have chosen. There are advantages and disadvantages of getting a second opinion.
Find out more about getting a second opinion
If you are not happy with your care, the first step is usually to speak to the people involved. If you feel comfortable, try speaking to your doctor or consultant. Or talk to a nurse or member of your healthcare team.
If you can't sort out problems by talking to your healthcare team, you might want to make a complaint.
Guidelines about making a complaint might be different for each private hospital. To complain about your treatment, ask the manager about their complaints procedure. You can also ask the healthcare insurance company for advice if they pay for your care.
Sometimes it might be that you are not satisfied with the hospital's response. In that case, you can contact the Independent Sector Complaints Adjudication Service (ISCAS).
You can get advice from the Financial Ombudsman Service if you aren’t happy with the service from your health insurance company.
Last reviewed: 28 Sept 2026
Next review due: 28 Sept 2029
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Once a medicine has a licence, organisations will decide if it should be available as part of free healthcare.
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