Surgery: Private Sector
(asked on 18th May 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of elective surgery undertaken in the independent sector; and how this compares in numerical terms and as a percentage with each of the last 5 years.
The following table shows information relating to elective episodes with procedures, which includes elective surgery alongside other procedures which may be performed elsewhere:
Operational Year | Episodes with a procedure in independent sector providers | Episodes with a procedure in NHS providers | Independent sector provider episodes with a procedure as percentage of total episodes with a procedure |
2021/22 | 609,200 | 6,850,963 | 8.2% |
2022/23 | 793,137 | 7,235,749 | 9.9% |
2023/24 | 847,417 | 7,731,835 | 9.9% |
2024/25 | 924,939 | 8,407,808 | 9.9% |
2025/26* | 834,803* | 8,251,733* | 9.2%* |
Source: NHS England
Note: Data for 2025/26 is currently provisional and may be subject to change.