Across the 5 digestive surgery and endoscopy procedures we price at UK private hospitals, self-pay costs run from £1,844 to £8,801. 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.

Digestive & Endoscopy self-pay prices across UK hospitals, by procedure
ProcedureHospitals pricedFromToMedian
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy21£1,844£2,330£2,150
Gastroscopy28£1,900£2,647£2,155
Colonoscopy30£2,333£3,243£2,795
Hernia Surgery39£3,490£7,875£3,668
Gallbladder / Gallstone Removal49£7,179£8,801£8,055

Why digestive surgery and endoscopy prices vary this much

Camera investigations and abdominal surgery are where private care mainly buys speed — a colonoscopy or hernia repair in days rather than months. The spread reflects sedation, whether a biopsy is taken, and whether the procedure is diagnostic or goes on to treat what it finds.

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 digestive surgery and endoscopy?

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 £2,795 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.