Insurance-funded private hospital admissions reached a record 670,000 in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive annual high despite NHS waiting lists falling to their lowest level in almost three years, according to Broadstone.
It found that PMI-funded admissions increased by 5,000 on 2024 levels and have now risen 16 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Meanwhile, NHS waiting lists fell by 137,000 during 2025 to 7.29 million, before dropping further to 7.11 million in March 2026, the lowest level since August 2022.
Broadstone warns that a record 1.92 million patients now waiting for a diagnostic test in England which could indicate that improvements in headline waiting list figures are masking growing demand for diagnostic services.
Broadstone head of health & protection Brett Hill says: “Demand for workplace health benefits remains very much ‘on the up’ however, and we’re seeing this on the ground as employers continue to deploy PMI and other health benefits as part of a strategy to support workplace health and reduce sickness absence.
“While the fall in the headline numbers for NHS waiting lists is welcome news it masks a more complex reality for many patients, with the waiting list for diagnostic tests having increased, and with many employees struggling to access treatment for conditions that commonly keep people off work, such as MSK and mental health conditions.
“With the Keep Britain Working Review endorsing the role of businesses in fighting the UK’s economic inactivity crisis, and cooling claims inflation easing pressure on premiums at renewal, it looks likely that we will soon breach 1 million private treatments every year as businesses fill the UK’s healthcare gap with innovative PMI schemes.”