How much does a private mental health hospital cost?

Costs vary widely depending on the level of care, the length of stay, and the provider. Residential treatment is charged differently from outpatient psychiatry or therapy, and acute hospitals differ again. A reputable provider will give you clear written fees and explain exactly what is included before you commit. At PROMIS, fees are discussed openly as part of the assessment process.

Should I go private or use the NHS?

The NHS provides the full range of mental health care, including emergency and acute care that private clinics like PROMIS do not offer, and it is the right route in a crisis. Private care can mean faster assessment, more choice over the setting, and a smaller, more intensive environment for voluntary treatment. Many people use both: NHS care in a crisis, and private care for planned, intensive treatment afterwards.

Can I refer myself to a private mental health clinic?

Yes. You do not always need a GP referral for private care. Many providers, including PROMIS, accept self-referral and begin with an assessment. A GP can still be a helpful part of the picture, especially for ongoing medical care and continuity.

Will private medical insurance cover it?

Sometimes. Cover depends on your policy, the condition, and the type of treatment, and not all clinics or treatments are covered. Check directly with your insurer, and ask the provider what they can and cannot bill to insurance before you proceed.

Can I be sectioned in a private hospital?

Detention under the Mental Health Act is only possible in services specifically registered for it, typically NHS units and some private acute hospitals. Most private mental health care, including all care at PROMIS, is voluntary: you choose to come and you can leave. If detention is being considered because someone is at acute risk, that is an NHS acute or emergency matter.

What conditions do private mental health clinics treat?

This depends on the clinic. Some focus narrowly; others treat a broad range. PROMIS treats both mental health conditions (such as depression, anxiety, trauma and related difficulties) and addiction, including where the two occur together. Always confirm a provider genuinely treats the relevant condition before you commit.

How long is a stay in a residential mental health clinic?

There is no fixed answer; length of stay depends on the person's needs and clinical judgement, and is reviewed as treatment progresses rather than fixed in advance. Assessment is where a realistic picture is set out.

How do I check a provider is safe and properly regulated?

Look up the provider on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website to confirm it is registered and to read its latest inspection rating. Ask about clinical governance, who leads care, and aftercare. NICE describes what good adult mental health care should look like (CG136), which gives you a benchmark for the questions to ask.

How to Choose a Private Mental Health Hospital in the UK

A practical guide to choosing inpatient psychiatric care, written by a specialist clinic that isn't one.

PROMIS is a small residential clinic in London and Kent specialising in addiction, eating disorders, and dual diagnosis. We are not a psychiatric hospital. Most weeks, someone contacts us looking for inpatient psychiatric care we don't provide, and we point them elsewhere. This page is what we tell them.

Because we sit alongside the UK's private psychiatric hospitals rather than compete with them, we can write about them honestly. None of the hospitals named below paid to be on this page, and we've deliberately left ourselves off the list. We don't belong on it.

A note on Cardinal Clinic.

PROMIS has a clinical partnership with Cardinal Clinic. We've included Cardinal below because they are an established UK private psychiatric hospital, but you should know about the relationship before reading our entry on them.

If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, this page is not the right place to start.

Call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option (option 2), which can connect you to your local 24/7 crisis line. The Samaritans are on 116 123, free, any time. The hospitals listed below are for non-emergency, planned admissions.

What is a private mental health hospital?

A private mental health hospital is an independently funded service that provides assessment and treatment for mental health conditions (and, in some clinics, addiction) outside the NHS. The term covers a wide range: large acute psychiatric hospitals that can admit people in crisis, sometimes under the Mental Health Act; smaller residential clinics offering voluntary intensive treatment; and outpatient services providing assessment, psychiatry and therapy without an overnight stay. They differ enormously in size, who leads the care, the conditions they treat, and whether they can hold someone who is at acute risk.

Because the label “hospital” is used loosely in private mental health care, the most useful thing you can do is ignore the marketing and ask what level of care a place actually provides. A small residential clinic and a large acute psychiatric unit may both call themselves a hospital, yet they suit very different needs.

The levels of private mental health care, and who each suits

People often compare providers as though they are interchangeable. They are not. The level of care determines who a service can safely help, so it is the place to start.

Level of care	Who it suits	What it offers	Voluntary or detained	Typical setting
NHS crisis & acute care	Anyone in a mental health emergency or at acute risk to themselves or others; people who may need admission under the Mental Health Act	Emergency assessment, crisis teams, acute psychiatric admission, ability to detain when legally required	Can be voluntary or detained under the Mental Health Act	A&E, crisis services, NHS acute psychiatric wards
Private acute psychiatric hospital	People needing intensive psychiatric admission, close monitoring, or higher-acuity inpatient care, who are choosing a private route	Consultant psychiatrist-led inpatient care, medication management, higher-acuity monitoring	Usually voluntary; some are registered under the Mental Health Act	Larger private hospital with inpatient wards
Small residential clinic	People who want intensive, focused treatment for a defined period in a calm, low-census setting, and who are not in acute crisis	Residential stay with intensive individual therapy, structured programme, weekly psychiatric input, addiction and mental health treatment	Voluntary only	Small, non-institutional residential clinic
Private outpatient / therapy	People who can be safely supported while living at home; assessment, diagnosis, psychiatry and ongoing therapy	Psychiatric assessment, medication reviews, individual and family therapy, day support	Voluntary only	Clinic or consulting rooms; no overnight stay

Where PROMIS sits: in the small residential clinic row, with outpatient and day care alongside. Voluntary care, with weekly psychiatric input. PROMIS is not an acute psychiatric hospital, does not operate under the Mental Health Act, and does not provide emergency crisis stabilisation. If acute or emergency care is needed, the NHS routes in the top row are the right starting point.

What to look for when choosing a provider

The right hospital depends on what kind of care you need, who will be treating you, and how the practical details fit your life. These are the questions we'd ask in your position.

CQC rating and inspection report: Every hospital in England is regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Look up the provider on cqc.org.uk and read the most recent inspection report, not just the headline rating. The report tells you what inspectors actually saw on the wards. Ratings change, so check the date.
Consultant psychiatry: Find out which consultant psychiatrist you would be admitted under, what their clinical specialism is, and how often they see patients on the ward. Be precise here: "consultant-led" and "weekly psychiatric input" are very different models, and you are entitled to ask which one applies. The consultant matters more than the building.
Clinical governance: Ask how the clinical team is supervised, how risk is assessed and reviewed, and how decisions are documented. Good services can answer this clearly and without hesitation.
Census and size: A small, capped census means each person gets more direct clinical attention; a larger setting may offer higher-acuity monitoring and more specialist programmes on site. Neither is automatically better. It depends on what is needed.
Inpatient, day patient, or outpatient: Inpatient admission is for people who need 24-hour psychiatric care. Day patient programmes offer intensive treatment while you sleep at home. Outpatient care is appointment-based. Many people don't need a hospital bed. They need the right level of care.
24-hour care: If you're considering inpatient care, confirm there is a doctor on call overnight, what the nursing ratio is at night, and how psychiatric emergencies on the ward are handled.
Specialism: General psychiatric hospitals can treat most adult mental health conditions. For some needs (eating disorders, complex trauma, addiction with co-occurring illness, perinatal mental health, adolescent care), a hospital with a dedicated specialist programme makes a real difference.
Family involvement and aftercare: Ask how the hospital involves family, what discharge planning looks like, and what aftercare is offered. Recovery happens after discharge. A good admission ends with a clear plan, not a phone number.
Location: Distance matters more than people expect. Visiting, day-release, family therapy, and continuity with your existing therapist all become harder if the hospital is far from home.
Insurance and cost: If you're paying through insurance, confirm in writing that the hospital, the consultant, and the expected length of stay are all covered. If you're self-paying, ask for an all-in estimate including consultant fees, medication, therapy and any add-ons.

A note on the NHS and the Maudsley

The Maudsley Hospital in south London is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and one of the world's leading psychiatric research and teaching hospitals. Its work shapes standards across the whole of UK mental health care, public and private. The Maudsley is not a private hospital and does not generally take privately-funded inpatient admissions. We mention it because anyone researching mental health hospitals in the UK will encounter the name.

NHS care, including specialist tertiary services, is accessed through your GP or, in a crisis, A&E.

Private mental health hospitals in the UK

A short, alphabetical guide to established private providers of inpatient mental health care in the UK. This is not a ranking and it is not exhaustive.

Cardinal Clinic

Windsor, Berkshire

Cardinal Clinic is an independent psychiatric hospital in Windsor that has been treating private patients for several decades. It offers inpatient and day-patient care across mood disorders, anxiety, addiction, and stress-related conditions, with a consultant team that includes some of the most respected names in private psychiatry outside London.

PROMIS works in clinical partnership with Cardinal Clinic. We've included them here for the same reason as the others (they are an established, regulated UK private psychiatric hospital), and we want to be transparent about the relationship rather than hide it.

Known for: A calm, established setting and continuity of care between inpatient and day-patient programmes.

Disclosure: PROMIS has a clinical partnership with Cardinal Clinic.

Castle Craig Hospital

Peeblesshire, Scottish Borders

Castle Craig is one of the UK's longest-established residential addiction hospitals, set on a country estate in the Scottish Borders. It is a specialist addictions hospital (alcohol, drugs, and behavioural addictions), and it treats co-occurring mental health conditions alongside the primary addiction.

The programme is residential and structured, with the kind of grounding in evidence-based addiction medicine that many UK clinicians regard as foundational to the field.

Known for: Depth of expertise in addiction, and a residential environment built specifically for recovery.

Cygnet Health Care

Sites across England and Wales

Cygnet operates one of the largest networks of mental health hospitals and specialist services in the UK, covering acute psychiatric admission, secure and rehabilitation services, eating disorders, learning disabilities and complex care.

Cygnet works with both private and NHS-funded patients, and for many parts of the country a Cygnet hospital will be the practical option for an acute admission close to home.

Known for: Geographical reach and a broad range of specialist services across one provider.

Nightingale Hospital

Marylebone, London

Nightingale Hospital is an independent psychiatric hospital in central London. It offers inpatient, day-patient and outpatient care across general adult psychiatry, addiction, eating disorders, and adolescent mental health, with consultants drawn from across London's private psychiatric community.

Its central London location matters for people who want to be close to home, family, or their existing therapist during admission.

Known for: London-based inpatient psychiatric care across the full range of common conditions.

The Priory Group

Sites across the UK

The Priory operates the largest network of independent mental health hospitals in the UK, with sites in most major regions. The scale matters: the group has invested in dedicated programmes (eating disorders, neurorehabilitation, addiction, child and adolescent care, complex acute psychiatry) at a depth smaller providers cannot replicate.

A Priory hospital is often the most accessible private psychiatric option simply because there is one within reach.

Known for: Nationwide coverage and dedicated specialist programmes within a single provider.

Where PROMIS fits, and where we don't

PROMIS is a small residential and day-patient clinic, not a hospital. Our two sites (Hay Farm in Kent and Kendrick Mews in London) provide care for addiction, eating disorders, and dual diagnosis. We treat both mental health conditions and addiction (roughly half of the people we see come for mental health difficulties rather than addiction), care is formulation-led rather than a fixed programme, and there is weekly psychiatric input. Our care is voluntary. We are not an acute or emergency psychiatric unit, we do not operate under the Mental Health Act, and we cannot detain anyone or provide emergency crisis stabilisation. We don't offer secure psychiatric admission, child and adolescent care, or general acute psychiatric inpatient services. If your situation needs one of those, the hospitals above are who we'd point you toward.

For people who need consultant psychiatrist-led inpatient psychiatric care, which PROMIS does not provide directly, we work in partnership with Cardinal Clinic, a private psychiatric hospital in Windsor. If you are looking for acute or inpatient psychiatric admission, Cardinal Clinic is the part of that partnership able to provide it.

People come to us when they want a small, family-led setting, when they're navigating addiction together with a mental health condition, and when they want continuity from residential care into outpatient and aftercare.

Mental health treatment at PROMIS Speak to our team

Practical next steps

1
Read the most recent CQC inspection report for any hospital you're considering. Search the provider name on cqc.org.uk.
2
Talk to your GP, or a private GP, about a referral and a consultant recommendation.
3
Ask the hospital directly which consultant you would be admitted under, and what their specialism is.
4
Confirm insurance coverage in writing for the hospital, the consultant, and the expected length of stay.
5
Ask about aftercare and discharge planning before admission, not at the end of it.

Frequently asked questions

If you'd like to talk it through

Whether or not PROMIS is the right place for you, we're happy to help you think it through. Our team can tell you honestly whether our service fits your situation, and where to look if it doesn't.

London: 0207 581 8222 Kent: 01304 841 700 Contact us

Last reviewed: August 2026. Hospitals open, close, change ownership, and update their services. We refresh this page periodically. If something here is out of date, please let us know at enquiries@promisclinics.com.