Guide
Private gallbladder removal cost: the published UK figures
Updated
Gallbladder removal is one of the procedures where published prices are unusually far apart, and the gap is mostly about what the number is allowed to exclude.
The three published figures
| Provider | How the provider describes it | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Practice Plus Group | Fixed price for gallbladder removal surgery | £6,649 |
| Benenden Hospital | Guide price from, laparoscopic cholecystectomy | From £7,223 |
| Spire Bushey Hospital | From price for treatment | From £7,995 |
| Spire Bushey Hospital | From price for the total package, consultation and aftercare included | From £8,228 |
Read on 15 August 2026 from the Practice Plus Group price list, Benenden Hospital's self-pay prices and the Spire Bushey gallbladder page. Plenty of other hospitals do this operation without publishing a figure at all, which is why the form on this site asks them directly rather than guessing on their behalf.
Read the label before you compare the numbers
- A fixed price
- Practice Plus Group states that the quote it gives is what you pay, and that it covers prescriptions, aftercare, equipment and any extra complications that arise. It is explicit that diagnostic tests needed as a result of your consultation carry their own charge.
- A guide price
- Benenden Hospital publishes guide prices and defines them as an estimated amount based on the information available at enquiry, not a fixed or guaranteed price, but an indication of the minimum you may incur. It lists complexity, length of stay, choice of consultant and consumables as things that can move it.
- A from price
- Spire publishes both a treatment price and a larger total package price, and states that the figure shown is the minimum cost of the procedure and can increase significantly with your choice of consultant, the anaesthetic used and your medical history. Spire also notes that consultant and anaesthetist fees are set independently of the hospital.
What tends to sit outside the surgery figure
- The consultation. Practice Plus Group publishes £145 for an initial consultation including a nurse assessment and any bloods or swabs.
- Imaging. Gallstones are usually confirmed on a scan, and providers commonly bill scans separately from the operation.
- Conversion to open surgery. The NHS notes open surgery is used when the gallbladder is very inflamed or keyhole removal is not possible, and that it means more pain and a longer recovery. Ask what happens to the price if that is needed.
- An unplanned overnight stay. The NHS says most people go home the same day but some need to stay overnight.
Four questions that make quotes comparable
- Ask whether the figure is fixed or a minimum, and what specifically would increase it.
- Ask whether the price still holds if the surgeon has to convert from keyhole to open surgery during the operation.
- Ask what is included if you need to stay overnight rather than going home the same day.
- Ask how many follow-up appointments are included and for how long after discharge.
This page prices an operation, it does not advise on one. Whether your gallbladder should come out at all is a clinical decision for a GP and a surgeon. The NHS is clear that a gallbladder may not need removing if gallstones are causing no symptoms.