Although UK residents are entitled to treatment from the Health Service, some people choose to pay for private health treatment or get it from work as a company benefit.

Secondary care, which refers to more specialised health treatment such as hospitals, mental health provision and care for the elderly, is especially well served by the private sector. While most residents of Northern Ireland are registered with an NHS GP, the private sector is often used for secondary or specialist treatment and care such as:

• Diagnostic tests for certain conditions
• One-off specialist treatment, such as visiting a dermatologist
• Specific operations in a private hospital
• Non-essential treatment such as cosmetic surgery
• Treatment for addiction or rehabilitation

Private hospitals

The private health sector is much smaller than the NHS and has different structures of accountability, however there are a growing number of private healthcare providers, practices, hospitals and clinics throughout Northern Ireland

Private health insurance

Health insurance is often used to pay for private care in hospital or from various health professionals in hospitals or in their practices.

MoneyHelper (formerly the Money Advice Service)  provides useful information on private health insurance

Cross border issues

If you’re already covered by private health insurance in Northern Ireland, you should check your policy carefully to ensure that you are fully covered before making plans for treatment or care in Ireland. You should check the terms and conditions of any private healthcare insurance carefully and particularly at point of use.

NOTE: The Cross Border Healthcare Directive for the Republic of Ireland/RoI Reimbursement Scheme ended in September 2022.  This scheme allowed NI patients to seek and pay for routinely commissioned treatment in the private sector in Ireland and have the costs reimbursed. This did not apply to treatment in the private sector in Northern Ireland.

Frontier workers

If you live in one jurisdiction and work in another you may be eligible for state healthcare both where you live and where you work, see further information at Border People Healthcare for Frontier workers.

See also:

• Border People – FAQs on healthcare
• Border People – Cross Border Healthcare Directive (EU) & Replacement Schemes

Page last checked March 2023

This webpage is for general information purposes only and while we endeavour to keep it up-to-date, errors may occur. It is very important that you check with the relevant body to ensure the information is current and is applicable to your situation.

If you would like to suggest amendments or highlight new information that could be useful to others please don’t hesitate to get in touch.