Sinus surgery cost UK: private prices and NHS waiting times

Private sinus surgery in the UK costs roughly £3,600 to £6,500 as an all-in package, and on the NHS it is free but you wait: the typical wait for sinus surgery runs to about 25 weeks (July 2026), and much longer at some hospitals than others.

What the operation is

Long-term sinus inflammation that does not clear with sprays, rinses and antibiotics is sometimes treated with endoscopic sinus surgery, or FESS. Using a small camera through the nostril, the surgeon opens the blocked drainage channels so the sinuses can clear. It is a day case under general anaesthetic, usually after an ENT assessment and often a CT scan. Most of the NHS wait is getting seen and scanned, not the operation itself.

What you are actually paying for

A private sinus surgery price is usually a fixed surgical package: the surgeon, the anaesthetist, the theatre, and your follow-up care. It does not include the first consultation or a CT scan, which are billed separately. Before the operation is booked, expect a first consultation of about £200 to £500, where the ENT surgeon confirms what you need. Source: published self-pay guide prices, August 2026.

Ask any hospital the same question before you commit: exactly what is and is not in the price, and in particular whether the surgeon's and anaesthetist's fees sit inside the figure or are added on top.

The cheaper middle route: pay only for the diagnosis

You do not have to pay for the whole operation to move sooner. Paying privately only for the parts that get you diagnosed and seen, the first consultation and any scan, costs about £450 to £950. After that you can rejoin NHS care for the operation itself and keep your place in the queue for it. This helps most when the wait to be seen and scanned is a big part of the delay.

The operation is free on the NHS, so the real question is the wait

Paying privately buys you speed, not a better result: the operation is the same one the NHS does. Your choices are really three. Stay where you are and wait. Switch to a faster NHS hospital, for free, under your right to choose, which can save months at no cost. Or pay for the whole operation privately and be treated in weeks. Which is right depends entirely on how long your own hospital's queue is, and how much shorter a nearby one might be.

See every NHS hospital's real sinus surgery wait, and how to switch to a faster one for free, on the chronic sinusitis waiting times pages. If you would rather have your options and the faster hospitals near you worked out from your postcode, open your free dashboard below.

Want the wait instead of the price? See sinus surgery NHS waiting times →

Can I go private for sinus surgery, then have it done on the NHS? →

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