2025 is already on track to be another record year for private healthcare according to the latest insurer-funded activity data from Healthcode. The UK’s official Clearing organisation validated more than 2.96 million invoices in Q1, up 6% on 2024 (2.79million), which was worth more than £1.3 billion to healthcare providers.
More unique insured patients received treatment in private hospitals in Q1 compared with the same period in 2024 with most being seen for musculoskeletal issues. Invoice volumes in Orthopaedics and Trauma were up 9% year-on-year for the quarter which meant this remained the biggest hospital speciality.
All private hospitals and more than 70% of practitioners, practices and clinics submit invoices to all the major insurers through Healthcode’s secure Clearing Service so the company’s volumes data is an important measure of market activity. It can also be analysed to see treatment setting, specialty and regional trends. For example, the Q1 data shows that a large volume of hospital patients were able to receive care and return home the same day: quarterly invoice volumes for outpatients far exceeded those for admitted care (2.5 million compared with 282,000) and many admitted care patients were seen as day cases.
Healthcode Managing Director, Peter Connor said: “Our Q1 data shows that providers are on track to treat a record number of insured patients this year, many of whom will be choosing private healthcare for the first time. This is a great vote of confidence but it also presents a challenge to the sector to meet this growing demand and ensure patients have the best possible experience.
“Healthcode’s mission is to support the sector’s growth and productivity with intelligent technology, from the unique insights available from our Sentinus business intelligence suite to productivity-enhancing solutions like appointments management, care pathways and ePrescribing tools that save time, reduce manual work and support delivery of great healthcare across the patient journey.”
Here are the headlines from Healthcode’s analysis of invoice activity in Q1 2025:
Treatment setting
Most invoices are from non-hospital settings but both hospital and non-hospital saw average 6% year-on-year growth over Q1.
In hospitals, there were 2.5million invoices for outpatient care in Q1 (up 7% year-on-year) and 282,000 invoices for admitted care (up 1% year-on-year). The total value of outpatient invoices is exceeding those of admitted care for the first time.
Hospital specialty
Orthopaedics and Trauma was the biggest hospital specialty in terms of invoice volume with 188,000 in Q1 (up 9% year-on-year). Radiology was the second biggest hospital specialty with 121,000 in Q1. This was a fall of 4% year-on-year but 2024 saw a sharp rise in volumes for this specialty.
Of the top ten hospital specialties, all except radiology saw a year-on-year increase in quarterly volumes. Hospital physiotherapy had the biggest year-on-year increase (19%) although the vast majority of physio happens in non-hospital settings (non-hospital volumes in Q1 were up 14% year-on-year).
Countries and regions
Most private healthcare takes place in England but hospital invoice volumes were up across all UK countries with year-on-year growth of 20% in Northern Ireland, 19% in Scotland, 5% in England and 3% in Wales.
All English regions saw year-on-year growth in Q1, from the South West (up 11% on average) to the North East (up 1% on average). Invoice volumes in London rose by an average 5% year-on-year in Q1.
