Across the 11 cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures we price at UK private hospitals, self-pay costs run from £2,960 to £19,445. Each figure below is the range across every hospital that publishes a price, so it shows both the cheapest route and how far the same operation varies by where it is done.
| Procedure | Hospitals priced | From | To | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial Reduction Surgery | 25 | £2,960 | £5,700 | £3,900 |
| Ear Pinning | 28 | £3,215 | £5,242 | £4,302 |
| Liposuction | 22 | £3,100 | £7,230 | £4,467 |
| Eyelid Surgery or Eyebag Removal | 46 | £3,662 | £8,225 | £6,247 |
| Brow Lift Surgery | 15 | £5,630 | £8,520 | £7,044 |
| Nose Reshaping | 28 | £5,118 | £9,547 | £7,286 |
| Breast Enlargement | 34 | £4,772 | £9,130 | £7,499 |
| Breast Uplift | 27 | £6,033 | £11,670 | £8,040 |
| Tummy Tuck | 29 | £8,184 | £11,356 | £9,103 |
| Breast Reduction | 32 | £7,785 | £11,630 | £9,341 |
| Facelift | 24 | £7,592 | £19,445 | £11,142 |
Why cosmetic and plastic surgery prices vary this much
Cosmetic surgery is almost never covered by insurance, so these are self-pay decisions from the start. The price turns on the surgeon, the technique, and whether it is done under local or general anaesthetic — which is why two quotes for the same operation can look nothing alike.
Read any row as a starting range, not a quote: the published figure is a package, and the initial consultation, diagnostics and a longer-than-assumed stay are usually billed on top. The per-procedure pages linked above show which hospital sits where in each range.
Would private health insurance pay for cosmetic and plastic surgery?
Not if you already have the problem. Cover is written for conditions that arise after it starts, so anything you already have symptoms of is a pre-existing condition and excluded — permanently under full medical underwriting, or until a symptom-free period has passed under a moratorium. Freedom Health Insurance names a five-year look-back; WPA adds a 14-day deferment on anything arising in the first fortnight.
Bought before symptoms, a policy is what turns £7,286 into a claim. Bought after, it will not. Get a free quote to see what cover would cost you, or read how UK cover compares and the FCA-authorised brokers.
Source: each range is built from the hospitals’ own published self-pay price lists, cited in full on the per-procedure pages above.