Private healthcare in Leicester: hospitals, specialties and how to access them

Leicester's private options are compact: two hospitals, on opposite sides of the city. Spire Leicester is out at Oadby on the south-east edge, while Nuffield Health Leicester is on Scraptoft Lane to the north-east. Patients from Market Harborough, Loughborough, Hinckley or Melton Mowbray will often find one easier to reach than the other.

The table records only what each hospital's own website lists. A blank does not mean a service is unavailable; individual consultants may offer more, and lists change.

Spire Leicester stands on Gartree Road in Oadby, postcode LE2 2FF. Its page puts it seven miles from junction 21 of the M1 and reachable by the A47 and the A6. From Leicester railway station it describes a taxi journey of around fifteen minutes.

Parking is a strength: the hospital says it provides free unlimited parking for patients and visitors, so there is no need to watch a ticket during a long clinic or a ward visit. For diagnostics, it lists MRI, ultrasound, X-ray and cardiac CT, and it names a wide-bore MRI scanner and a laminar flow operating theatre in its orthopaedic information.

Spire says it has 18 specialties, that it welcomes self-pay, insured and NHS-funded patients, and that robotic-assisted technology is used for joint replacement; its orthopaedic page names the VELYS system for knee replacement. It also reports a Care Quality Commission rating of Good, which is worth checking on the CQC website itself because ratings are updated.

Nuffield Health Leicester is on Scraptoft Lane, LE5 1HY. The page says there is ample free on-site parking but gives no train or bus information, so plan the final leg of a journey by checking local bus timetables, or arrange a lift.

Opening hours stated on the page are Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 21:00, Friday 08:00 to 17:00 and Saturday 07:00 to 13:00 for outpatients, and 06:30 to 18:00 every day for inpatients. A recently completed refurbishment is described, with private en-suite bedrooms. The hospital also lists a private GP service and physiotherapy, alongside a pathology service and radiology.

The page recommends seeing your GP for a referral, and says it accepts self-pay patients, insured patients and personal medical loans with a 0% option. It notes a Good rating from the Care Quality Commission. Its imaging section mentioned an MRI scanner upgrade, so ask whether MRI is currently available if a scan is part of your plan.

NHS care in the city and county is commissioned by NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board. University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust says it runs three acute hospitals and provides services in seven community hospitals. Leicester Royal Infirmary is in the city centre and houses the county's only accident and emergency service, plus the Leicester Children's Hospital. Glenfield Hospital, north-west of the centre, is described for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and breast care. Leicester General Hospital, to the east, is described for renal care, diabetes research, urology and brain injury treatment, and it houses the East Midlands Planned Care Centre.

The trust's community hospitals include sites in Coalville, Hinckley, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray and Rutland, which is relevant to people in the county rather than the city proper.

Leicester is in England, so the right to choose applies. On a GP referral to a consultant-led service you can usually choose any provider with an NHS contract, which may include a private hospital if it provides NHS services at no extra cost to the NHS. The 18-week standard for non-urgent treatment and the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard for suspected cancer are national. The My Planned Care site lets you compare waits by postcode.

GP referral is the route Nuffield Health recommends, and for insurance claims it is usually essential. Self-referral is possible in some services. Spire, for instance, says no GP referral is needed for gynaecology, and Nuffield Health says that its psychiatry service is open to anyone without referral.

Insurers commonly want a referral and a pre-authorisation code before the first appointment, and many policies recognise only certain consultants. Ring your insurer first. If you are paying yourself, ask for a written quote that sets out the consultation, tests, procedure, any overnight stay and follow-up, because prices vary by consultant and are not given on this page.

It is unusual for a city of Leicester's size to have two independent hospitals that both list mental health care. Nuffield Health describes outpatient psychiatry, and Spire lists a mental health service with psychologists. That is worth knowing if you are weighing a private assessment against a long NHS wait.

Nuffield Health also runs an endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic and a spinal care service, both of which are described as multidisciplinary. Because the hospitals are small compared with city-centre campuses, ask early where scans and procedures will be done and who will manage any complication outside clinic hours.