Types of Private Medical Treatment and Typical Costs
Understanding the cost landscape helps frame the borrowing decision. Weight loss surgery (bariatric surgery) including gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric bypass procedures typically costs £5,000–£12,000 at a UK private clinic. NHS provision for bariatric surgery is available but heavily rationed — most patients require a BMI above 40 and must have completed a supervised weight management programme. Private treatment removes these waiting times and eligibility constraints.
Cosmetic surgery encompasses a broad range of procedures. Breast augmentation typically costs £4,000–£7,000; rhinoplasty £4,000–£8,000; blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery) £2,000–£5,000; and more extensive procedures such as facelifts or body contouring can cost £8,000–£20,000 or more. Cosmetic surgery is never available on the NHS except in specific clinical cases, making private funding the only route.
Private cancer treatment is a sensitive and complex area. While NHS cancer care is generally of high quality, some patients choose private treatment for reasons including access to specific drugs not yet approved on the NHS, faster access to radiotherapy, or preference for private facilities and continuity of care. The costs of private cancer treatment are highly variable — from £5,000 to £50,000 or more — depending on the type of cancer, the treatment required, and the duration of care. Private medical insurance, if held, is the primary funding route for private cancer treatment; without insurance, the out-of-pocket costs can be very significant.
Dental treatment — including dental implants (£1,500–£3,000 per implant), complex restorative work, and full mouth rehabilitation (£10,000–£30,000) — is another common area where patients seek private funding. NHS dental provision for complex or cosmetic dental work is very limited, and the cost of comprehensive private dental treatment often exceeds what patients can fund from savings alone.
Secured Loan vs Personal Loan vs Medical Finance Plans
For medical treatment costs up to £25,000–£30,000, an unsecured personal loan is typically the most straightforward option for borrowers with good credit. Personal loans protect your home, have competitive rates, and are available from most high-street banks and building societies. The term can be kept short — two to five years — keeping total interest costs manageable.
Specialist medical finance providers — including companies such as Chrysalis Finance, Medifinance, and various clinic-specific finance partners — offer instalment plans specifically designed for healthcare costs. These are typically unsecured, can be arranged quickly (often at the point of booking treatment), and some offer 0% promotional periods. They are worth exploring before seeking a secured loan, particularly for elective procedures where the clinic has an established finance partner.
A secured loan becomes relevant primarily when the amount needed exceeds what unsecured lenders will provide, when the borrower has impaired credit that prevents access to competitive unsecured rates, or when a longer repayment term is needed to keep monthly payments manageable. For complex, high-cost treatments — particularly multi-stage surgical procedures or extended private cancer care — a secured loan can provide the funding certainty and repayment flexibility that smaller unsecured products cannot.
It is important to note that not all secured loan lenders treat all medical purposes the same way. Cosmetic procedures are sometimes viewed differently from clinical treatments, though most lenders accept medical treatment as a legitimate loan purpose. A broker can identify lenders who are most open to your specific purpose.
