Rise in NHS hospital admissions following private treatment in Scotland
There have been at least 293 such cases over the last five years
The number of patients admitted to NHS hospitals directly from or immediately after treatment at a private facility has risen substantially in recent years, figures show.
Concerns have now been raised that the increase demonstrates "an unintended consequence" of patients being driven towards the private sector.
There have been at least 293 such cases over the last five years, according to data released via freedom of information (FOI) requests. These rose from 30 in 2021 to 72 last year.
In 2023, there were 59 patients admitted by emergency to NHS facilities either directly from private hospitals, or immediately after receiving treatment in private hospitals - rising to 70 the following year.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde saw by far the largest number of such cases, although some health boards, such as Fife, did not provide data.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “We know patients have been increasingly driven towards the independent sector because of shortcomings and under-resourcing in the NHS.
“That’s because of two decades of neglect and financial mismanagement by the Scottish Government, which only has itself to blame for this.
“And clearly an unintended consequence is patients being rushed back to the NHS when complications arise which some private hospitals aren’t best equipped to deal with.
“That in turn places even more strain on the health service and their hardworking staff.
“A properly funded NHS should be in a position to support everyone in Scotland who needs it.”
It previously emerged private hospital admissions in Scotland are hitting record levels and are growing at a greater rate than the rest of the UK.
The Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) said there appeared to be “an increasing appetite or need” for the private sector.
It said the 13,140 reported admissions in the third quarter of 2025 were at the highest level ever for that time of year and represented a 7 per cent increase on the same period in 2024.
Private medical insurance remained the preferred payment method and the number of admissions funded this way increased by 5 per cent.
However, self-pay admissions - where the patient pays directly for their treatment through savings or loans - increased by 10 per cent.
There were increases in admissions for every age group, PHIN said, except for children aged 0-9. The biggest increase was in the 40-49 year old group. The highest number of admissions (2,550) came for patients in the 50-59 age group.
Cataracts were the most common reason for admission (2,255) and were up by 5 per cent. The next two highest admissions were for hip replacement (620) and upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy (580).
Health Secretary Angela Constance said: "The number of private admissions represents a very small proportion of acute hospital activity carried out by the NHS in Scotland.
“We are expanding access to the NHS in Scotland - exceeding the target to deliver 150,000 extra appointments and procedures in 2025/26 and reducing long waits for new outpatients by 76.5 per cent and inpatient/ day case waits down by 47.4 per cent since July 2025.
“The NHS Scotland workforce is at a record high, having increased by 29.0 per cent since 2006, and seeing 14 consecutive years of staffing growth.”
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