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

The two independent hospitals approach Nottingham from opposite directions. Spire Nottingham Hospital is on Tollerton Lane, Tollerton, NG12 4GA, about five miles south of the city centre and reached from the A52 or the A46. Woodthorpe Hospital is at 748 Mansfield Road, Woodthorpe, NG5 3FZ, on the main road running north out of the city, and its own page says it has provided healthcare on the site since 1877.

That means an appointment at one is not interchangeable with an appointment at the other for someone relying on a particular bus route or a lift from a relative. Before choosing a consultant, find out which hospital they use for clinics and which for operating, since a few surgeons work in both.

Neither is an emergency hospital. For anything urgent call 999 or go to the emergency department at the Queen's Medical Centre, and use NHS 111 for advice that cannot wait for a GP.

These rows show only what each hospital lists on its own website. Individual consultants may offer more, and lists change as services are added or withdrawn.

Spire gives directions from the centre: south on London Road (the A60), left onto Cattle Market Road past the Notts County ground, over Lady Bay Bridge to the Gamston roundabout, second exit onto the A52, then left into Tollerton Lane. The hospital says parking is free and unlimited for patients and visitors, and that Nottingham station is about 15 minutes away by taxi. There is no tram or train stop at its door, so most people come by car or taxi.

Woodthorpe's directions converge on the A60: from the M1 take junction 26 and the A610, from the north on the A1 follow the A614 through Ollerton, and from the south on the A1 use the A52 to Bingham. The final approach is via Egerton Road. Its pages mention free on-site parking, though one describes it as limited and encourages patients to use local public transport, so allow extra time at busy clinics.

If you will have sedation, you should not drive afterwards, so work out in advance who will take you home from either site. Taxi drivers who work in Nottingham generally know both hospitals, but give the full address including Tollerton Lane or Mansfield Road to avoid confusion with the NHS sites.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust operates the Queen's Medical Centre on Derby Road, Nottingham City Hospital on Hucknall Road, Ropewalk House, the National Rehabilitation Centre and the Nottingham Children's Hospital. Its website describes it as one of the biggest and busiest trusts in the country, serving more than two and a half million people locally.

The trust's getting-here page says that from 7 September 2026 the main entrance of the Queen's Medical Centre is drop-off only, and describes a Medilink shuttle that links QMC, City Hospital and the park-and-ride sites roughly every 15 minutes on weekdays. That is relevant to private patients who are referred for a scan or procedure at an NHS site as part of a shared pathway.

Local NHS planning sits with NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board. The My Planned Care site shows the trust's own weekly waiting-time data and notes that figures cover routine elective care and are averages, so it is a better source than a general guide for how long a particular specialty is waiting at the moment.

There are three usual routes. A GP letter names a consultant or hospital and gives your history; some consultants want it, and many insurers do. Self-referral means you choose a consultant from the hospital's directory and arrange the first consultation yourself, which Spire says is possible online, by phone or through an enquiry form. Insurance pre-authorisation means the insurer authorises a first consultation and sets limits, so ask before you attend.

Spire states that consultations can be available in as little as 24 hours, and Woodthorpe offers complimentary consultant advice on some of its pages. Both are the hospitals' own descriptions of access. They do not tell you how long a given operation will wait, which depends on the consultant and theatre lists.

For NHS-funded care at an independent hospital, Woodthorpe says that under Patient Choice you can ask your GP whether you could choose treatment there, and aims to treat NHS patients within 18 weeks of the referral letter. Spire says it accepts NHS funding. Right to Choose applies to patients in England who are referred by a GP, dentist or optometrist to a consultant-led service, not to self-referral.

• Ask whether the first consultation includes tests or only a discussion.

• Ask whether the quote includes the consultant, anaesthetist, implants, histology and follow-up.

• Ask who looks after you if you need an unplanned overnight stay.

Spire Nottingham stands out for the breadth of its treatments list and for describing itself as rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission on its own page, together with robotic-assisted orthopaedic surgery, vein surgery and a children and young people service. Woodthorpe is smaller, with 41 en-suite bedrooms and two operating theatres with laminar air flow, and it publishes detailed lists for urology, dermatology and general surgery.

Some gaps are worth noting. Woodthorpe's pages do not list respiratory medicine, gastroenterology as a department or rheumatology; Spire's respiratory page gives only a short list of conditions. If your problem falls outside what is listed, ask the hospital rather than assuming it is covered, and remember that NHS services at the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital include specialised respiratory, urology and skin cancer units.

Regulatory ratings and facilities change. Check the Care Quality Commission's published reports for the hospital you are considering, and confirm that the specialty and the consultant are available when you need them.