Sectors We Work In
Healthcare
Axentia programme-manages clinical facilities for private healthcare providers, from feasibility through to a clinic that can see patients. This is what is currently happening in UK private healthcare, and the areas we see changing the buildings behind it.
Sectors We Work In
Healthcare
Axentia programme-manages clinical facilities for private healthcare providers, from feasibility through to a clinic that can see patients. This is what is currently happening in UK private healthcare, and the areas we see changing the buildings behind it.
Private activity is at record levels, and insurance is now driving it
UK private hospitals and clinics recorded 953,000 admissions in 2025, the fourth consecutive annual record. Of those, roughly 670,000 were funded through private medical insurance and around 283,000 were self-pay, a split of about 70:30. The self-pay boom that followed the pandemic has started to level off, down around 6% year on year, as NHS capacity recovers slightly and treated patients feel less urgency to fund their own care. Insurance is now the steadier source of growth, helped by employers using cover as a retention and absence-reduction tool.
What this means for facility projects
Insurer-driven demand is more predictable than self-pay demand, which supports a longer-term facility investment case. A provider planning a new site on the strength of PMI referral volumes has a more stable basis for that decision than one planning around a self-pay spike.
NHS waiting lists remain the underlying driver
NHS England reported around 7.3 million referral-to-treatment pathways waiting to start treatment as of May 2026, covering an estimated 6.2 million individual patients. That backlog continues to push both self-pay and insured patients into private provision, and it is also drawing private capacity directly into NHS-funded elective care. In January 2026, one of the established private hospital groups was awarded a five-year, £66.4 million contract by an NHS integrated care board to deliver NHS-funded planned care through an independent hospital.
What this means for facility projects
A facility built for a private operator may need to satisfy NHS standard contract and commissioning requirements as well as CQC registration, if it is intended to take NHS-funded referrals alongside private ones. That is worth settling at feasibility rather than after the room is built.
Diagnostics is where the physical expansion is concentrated
Government policy has leaned on expanding Community Diagnostic Centres, and the private sector has expanded alongside it. New diagnostic and outpatient facilities dedicated to MRI, CT, X-ray and ultrasound have opened through 2026, aimed at NHS waiting times for the fifteen key diagnostic tests, which have remained above target in many areas. One London hospital group’s £18 million, 20,000 square foot outpatients and diagnostics centre in Canary Wharf is a recent example, combining GP-led screening, consultant-led outpatient clinics and on-site imaging in one building.
What this means for facility projects
Diagnostic-led facilities have a distinct services profile: imaging suites need shielding, vibration control and specific power and cooling loads, and the throughput model favours a compact outpatient footprint over a traditional ward-based hospital layout.
Specialist single-condition providers are opening sites fast
Alongside the large hospital groups, specialist chains are expanding quickly into smaller, single-focus clinics. One specialist vein-treatment provider, for example, has set out a 2026 plan to open 17 new sites, taking its national estate to 31, focused on minimally invasive treatment for varicose and thread veins. This kind of rollout depends on a repeatable clinic format that can be fitted into a range of existing buildings on a predictable programme.
What this means for facility projects
A rollout model rewards a standard room specification that can be delivered to a consistent programme across different buildings and landlords, rather than a bespoke design solved from scratch on every site.
Investment is coming from private equity and new market entrants
The established national hospital groups continue to expand and upgrade their estates. Private equity investors have identified UK private healthcare as a stable, profitable sector and are backing new entrants as well as established chains: a private equity-backed new hospital group announced plans in 2026 for a chain of lower-cost surgical and diagnostic centres, starting with a £30 million hospital in Kent.
What this means for facility projects
New entrants without an existing estate are building from a blank sheet, which is where a programme manager adds the most value: setting the brief, the budget and the delivery model before a site has even been chosen.
The patient base is getting younger and more self-directed
Private healthcare’s patient base is shifting away from its traditional older, affluent profile. A growing share of self-pay and insured patients are under 50, and under-35 patients researching and booking care directly, rather than arriving via a GP referral, are a rising share of new patients. Around 13,400 consultants were active in UK private practice in 2025, with the largest growth in trauma and orthopaedics, general surgery, gynaecology and urology.
What this means for facility projects
A younger, more self-directed patient base tends to book single procedures and diagnostics rather than longer inpatient stays, which supports demand for outpatient and day-case facilities over traditional overnight bed capacity.
Healthcare Facilities
Clinical spaces ready to treat patients
Private-care environments shaped around patient flow and clinician workflow – delivered with medical M&E, infection-control detailing and CQC-ready handover.
GP Surgeries
Primary-care practices planned around efficient patient flow, from waiting areas and reception to consulting and treatment rooms.
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Dental Practices
Modern dental suites with the services, decontamination and infection-control detailing that clinical dentistry demands.
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Ophthalmic & Laser Eye Clinics
Specialist clinics built for precise environmental control and the equipment that laser and ophthalmic procedures rely on.
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Cosmetic & Minor-Procedure Suites
Treatment suites detailed for minor surgical and cosmetic procedures, balancing clinical compliance with a considered patient experience.
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Specialist Consulting Rooms
Consulting and examination rooms configured for the specific discipline, ready for clinicians to see patients from day one.
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Clinic Refurbishments
Upgrading and reconfiguring existing practices to meet current standards while keeping disruption to running clinics to a minimum.
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Not on the list? We regularly deliver hybrid and one-off facilities. If your project sits somewhere between these types, the same disciplined process applies — feasibility, design, build and certify, under a single point of accountability.
Case Studies
Examples of Healthcare projects we've delivered
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