Established practice

Your self-pay enquiries are below where they need to be

Most independent hospitals market like NHS trusts, service-led, jargon-heavy, with no clear patient journey. Self-pay patients need price transparency, outcome data, and a fast route to booking. Without that, they move on.

steps: 7; steps
to start: 1 week; to start

The short answer

Self-pay patients are spending their own money and compare you with two or three others before they ring. They want a clear package price, what it includes, how soon they can be seen and a quick way to book. Hospitals that market by department name and hide the price lose these patients before the bookings team ever hears from them.

7 steps

Do it yourself: step by step

0 of 7 done

Rank procedures by self-pay volume and margin over the last 12 months. Common candidates include hip and knee replacement, cataract, hernia repair, MRI, endoscopy and private GP or consultant outpatient appointments.
Time
1 week
Typical cost
Staff time only
Who does it
Commercial lead with finance
Done when: A ranked list of ten procedures with volume and margin.
Each page states the package price or a from price, what is included and excluded, the consultants who perform it, the next available date and a booking button. Write in patient language, not service names.
Time
4 to 8 weeks
Typical cost
£2,000 to £10,000 if a web supplier writes and builds (Solvable estimate: about £200 to £1,000 a page for ten pages)
Who does it
Marketing lead and web supplier
Done when: Ten live pages, each with a price, inclusions, a date and a booking route.
Use paid search on procedure plus location terms, sending traffic to the priced procedure page, not the home page. Set conversion tracking on calls and forms.
Time
4 weeks to set up
Typical cost
£1,500 to £5,000 a month ad spend plus management (Solvable estimate: depends on local competition)
Who does it
Marketing lead or supplier
Done when: Cost per booked self-pay patient is reported monthly by procedure.

This problem is Solvable.

Copy this checklist

Self-pay procedure page checklist

Free to copy, adapt and use. No sign-up.

Checklist

Self-pay procedure page checklist

Complete one per procedure page. A page is ready when every box is ticked.

Above the fold

Plain-English procedure name a patient would search for (for example "knee replacement", not "orthopaedic services")
Package price including every mandatory charge, or a "from £[x]" price that a fair share of patients actually pay
Next available consultation date: [date], updated weekly
One booking button and one phone number for self-pay

What is included

Initial consultation
Pre-operative assessment and tests
Surgeon and anaesthetist fees
Theatre, implants or consumables
Length of stay: [x] nights
Follow-up appointments: [number]
Physiotherapy: [number] sessions
Aftercare policy if complications arise within [x] days

What is not included

Clearly listed exclusions (for example extra nights, imaging after discharge, take-home medicines)

Trust

Named consultants with photos and GMC numbers
Link to the consultants' PHIN profiles
Recent patient reviews, shown fairly and not only the best ones
CQC rating for the hospital

Paying

Payment options and when payment is due
Patient finance option, if offered, with the lender named and the wording approved by the lender or another FCA-authorised firm
Cancellation policy

Tracking

Call tracking number or form tracking in place
Page checked on a mobile phone

Page owner: [name] Last reviewed: [date]

Avoid these

Common mistakes

Hiding the price behind a "call us for a quote" button.
Packages that leave out the anaesthetist or follow-up, which patients discover later.
Sending paid search traffic to the home page instead of a priced procedure page.
Answering web enquiries the next day, after the patient has booked elsewhere.
Marketing by department name rather than the procedure the patient is searching for.

Free personal check

Done by Paul Robinson, not software

I'll shop your top self-pay procedure online against two local competitors and show you the gap

What I need from you

Hospital name and town
Website address
Your top three self-pay procedures

What you get

Screenshots of your page next to two competitors
Where a self-pay patient would choose someone else
The three changes that matter most

Within 2 working days

No sign-in, no sales call. I read every request myself and reply on WhatsApp.

Free tools

Check where you stand

Your illustrative estimate

£360,000

Solvable estimate. Rounded to the nearest £500. Updates as you type.

Monthly self-pay enquiries

Starting figure 150. Change it to match your practice.

Avoidable loss rate from slow response or no price

Starting figure 5%. Change it to match your practice.

Average package value

Starting figure £4,000 (from £4,000 (all Solvable estimates)). Change it to match your practice.

Formula

annual self-pay revenue lost = monthly self-pay enquiries x avoidable loss rate x average package value x 12

Variables and defaults

monthly self-pay enquiries: 150
avoidable loss rate from slow response or no price: 5%
average package value: £4,000 (all Solvable estimates)

Defaults only. Change them in the calculator to use your own numbers.

Assumptions and defaults

monthly self-pay enquiries = 150
avoidable loss rate from slow response or no price = 5%
average package value = £4,000 (all Solvable estimates)

150 x 0.05 x £4,000 x 12 gives around £360,000 a year. With 100 to 200 enquiries a month and packages of £3,000 to £4,500, the range is about £180,000 to £540,000 (Solvable estimate).

Benchmarks

Self-pay admissions rose 7.7% in Q1 2026 to their highest level and funded 31% of private admissions
Self-pay demand is there; the question is whether your pages capture it
Source: PHIN private market update Sept 2026

Every supplier I know who solves this. No one pays to be listed. Where I've worked with them, I say so.

Medico Digital
Marketing and websites
Healthcare digital marketing agency: websites, SEO, paid search and social for private hospitals, clinics and health companies.
Healthcare-only agency for websites, search and paid ads, working with private hospitals and multi-site clinics.
Best for: Private hospitals and multi-site clinics
Price on request
No commercial relationship

Know a supplier I have missed? Tell me Suggest yourself

Independent hospitals often market like NHS trusts - service-led, jargon-heavy, and without a clear patient journey. Self-pay patients need to see price transparency, outcome data, and a fast path to booking. Without these, they go elsewhere.

Structural root causes include the historical lack of price transparency in UK private healthcare, making it difficult for patients to compare options.
Behavioural causes stem from hospitals marketing in a service-led, jargon-heavy manner, similar to the NHS, rather than focusing on patient-centric value propositions.
Systemic issues involve a fragmented digital patient journey and often slow enquiry response times, leading to patient attrition.

Self-pay admissions in the UK saw a 3% downturn year-on-year from 2023 to 2024, but still represent a significant and high-margin patient segment for private hospitals. (Cover Magazine, June 2025)

Increased administrative burden handling confused patient enquiries
Suboptimal utilisation of clinical capacity and facilities
Reduced self-pay revenue growth, missing out on a high-margin segment
Increased marketing expenditure with poor ROI
Perception as an opaque or outdated provider
Negative patient reviews regarding pricing clarity and ease of access

What it looks like in practice

Low conversion rates from website visitors to self-pay enquiries
High bounce rates on pricing or service information pages
Patient feedback indicating confusion about costs or booking processes
Competitors visibly outperforming in online search and patient acquisition.

Paul Robinson

14 years in UK private healthcare

I solve this one for hospitals

Want a hand? I'll look at your situation and tell you the three things I'd tackle first.

A few quick questions, about two minutes. I read every one myself and usually reply the same day.

No sales call unless you ask for one. Just a straight answer from me.

I reply personally, usually the same day.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Will publishing prices start a price war?

Your competitors' prices are already a phone call away for patients. Publishing a clear package with inclusions usually wins on clarity, not on being cheapest.

Should we show a from price or an all-inclusive price?

All-inclusive where you can. Under the DMCC Act 2024 the headline price should include all mandatory charges (CMA price transparency guidance, CMA209). If you use a from price, state clearly what moves it up.

How fast must we reply to a web enquiry?

Within two working hours. Self-pay patients often enquire at several hospitals the same evening.

Do self-pay patients care about the consultant?

Yes. Named consultants with experience and reviews convert better than an anonymous department.

Is paid search worth it?

Only if it lands on a priced page and you track bookings. Without tracking you cannot tell.

Last reviewed: 30 October 2026

Sources

PHIN private market update Sept 2026

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The short answer

Do it yourself: step by step

1Pick your top ten self-pay procedures1 week · Staff time only

2Rewrite one page per procedure4 to 8 weeks · £2,000 to £10,000 if a web supplier writes and builds (Solvable estimate: about £200 to £1,000 a page for ten pages)

3Publish what the package covers2 weeks · Staff time only

4Time your enquiry response1 week · Staff time only

5Set a response standard2 to 4 weeks · Staff time only

6Run search ads only to priced pages4 weeks to set up · £1,500 to £5,000 a month ad spend plus management (Solvable estimate: depends on local competition)

7Review every quarterHalf a day a quarter · None

Self-pay procedure page checklist

Common mistakes

I'll shop your top self-pay procedure online against two local competitors and show you the gap

What I need from you

What you get

Check where you stand

What's this costing you?Optional: work it out with your own numbers

How we worked this outMethod, formula and assumptions

Suppliers who solve this1 supplier. No one pays to be listed

Why this keeps happening

What it leads to

Evidence

Want a hand? I'll look at your situation and tell you the three things I'd tackle first.

Frequently asked questions

Will publishing prices start a price war?

Should we show a from price or an all-inclusive price?

How fast must we reply to a web enquiry?

Do self-pay patients care about the consultant?

Is paid search worth it?

You're not the only one with this problem.