Private GP Insurance UK (2026): Health Cover With GP Access, Costs and City Guides
Our guide to private GP insurance in the UK: how health insurance with GP access works, which insurers include a digital or face-to-face GP, what a private appointment costs without cover, and every private GP guide we have written for 17 cities, plus referrals, blood tests and health checks.
Quick Answer
Private GP insurance is not a standalone product. It means health insurance that includes private GP access: a GP you can see by app, phone or video, often the same day, with longer appointments and quick referrals. Some plans add face-to-face visits. The GP appointment is the gateway: its biggest value is the referral that unlocks the rest of your policy, the scans, consultants and treatment, subject to your outpatient limit and pre-authorisation.
Without insurance, a face-to-face private GP appointment on the clinics in our city guides costs £50 to £155. If you only want GP visits, see private GP membership costs; if you want the GP plus cover for what comes next, health insurance with GP access compares every insurer.
On this page
How Private GP Access Works
Rather than phoning your NHS surgery at 8am, you open your insurer’s GP app or call its line. A video or phone appointment usually follows within hours, often longer than a standard NHS slot. The GP can diagnose, advise, issue a private prescription or a fit note, and, if you need a specialist, issue the referral that takes you into your cover. Most insurers lead with a digital GP; some add face-to-face appointments at partner clinics, and the hours and appointment allowances vary by plan.
| Usually included | Often separate or excluded |
|---|---|
| Digital GP consultations by app, phone or video | The cost of private prescription medication |
| Advice, fit notes and private prescriptions | Tests and scans, which fall under your outpatient cover |
| Referrals, including open referrals | Specialist consultations, under your policy rules and excess |
| Sometimes a set number of face-to-face GP visits | Pre-existing and chronic conditions |
The nuance that matters: the GP appointment itself is usually included, but what it leads to is governed by the rest of your policy. Some plans, Saga’s for example, do not reimburse the GP visit at all but cover the specialist care after referral. See private GP vs NHS GP for how the two compare day to day.
Insurer GP Services Compared
Every major UK insurer now offers some form of private GP, but they differ in whether it is video only or includes face-to-face visits, how quickly you are seen, and what the GP can refer you into. The cards below link to our guide on each service.
AXA Health
Doctor at Hand, a video and phone GP service run with Doctor Care Anywhere, is included on AXA personal plans. Hours, appointment allowances and what the GP can prescribe depend on your plan, so check the policy wording.
AXA Doctor at HandAXA and blood testsAXA cost and benefitsIs AXA worth it?Bupa
Bupa’s digital GP comes through the Blua Health app on eligible plans, and Bupa also sells face-to-face private GP appointments at its health centres on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Bupa private GPBupa and blood testsBupa health assessmentsIs Bupa worth it?Vitality
Vitality GP offers video and phone consultations through the Vitality GP app, with face-to-face appointments available in some areas, and the GP can refer you straight into your cover.
Vitality GPVitality Direct AccessIs Vitality worth it?Aviva
Aviva’s Digital GP app, provided with Square Health, gives video GP appointments to eligible policyholders, alongside the Smart Health wellbeing service.
Aviva Smart HealthWhat Aviva coversAviva reviewsSaga
Saga’s plans take a different approach: the GP appointment itself is not reimbursed, but the specialist care that follows a referral can be covered. Our guide explains what you actually get.
Saga GP serviceAll insurers comparedFor a side-by-side table, see health insurance with GP access: all insurers compared and the best insurers for fast GP appointments.
Compare and Understand
The guides that answer the questions people ask before they buy: insurance or membership, what a digital GP can and cannot do, and the policy rules that decide what happens after the appointment.
Private GP insurance explained
12 guidesPrivate GP City Guides
Each city guide names real local clinics, their published appointment prices, same-day availability and how to book, and explains how that compares with a policy that includes a GP. Prices on these pages range from about £40 for a phone consultation to £155 for a 30-minute face-to-face appointment.
London and the South East
7 guidesSouth and West
7 guidesMidlands and the North
3 guidesReferrals: Where the Real Value Is
The private GP appointment is often step one. Its biggest advantage is creating a clean referral pathway into the rest of your cover: back pain to physio or a spinal consultant and an MRI; a knee injury to orthopaedics and a scan; digestive symptoms to gastroenterology and an endoscopy. Instead of weeks for an NHS GP and months for onward care, the pathway can run in days.
Referral guides
6 guidesScans are in the scans and tests hub, operations in the private surgery hub, and every hospital your insurer might send you to in the private hospitals hub.
Blood Tests and Health Checks
A private GP will often order blood tests, and many people go private for a health check without seeing a GP at all. These guides cover what the tests cost, whether health insurance pays for them, and the screening packages on offer.
Blood tests and health checks
7 guidesPrivate blood tests by city
11 citiesFAQs: Private GP Insurance (2026)
What is private GP insurance?
Private GP insurance is not usually a standalone product. It means health insurance that includes private GP access as a feature: a GP you can see by app, phone or video, often the same or next day, with longer appointments and quick referrals into specialist care. Some plans also include a number of face-to-face GP visits. It is normally built into a comprehensive policy or added as an option, not bought on its own.
Can you buy standalone private GP insurance in the UK?
Generally no. Private GP access is almost always part of a private medical insurance policy rather than sold as its own product. If you only want GP appointments without wider cover, a private GP membership or pay-as-you-go appointments may suit you better. If you want GP access plus the ability to claim for scans, specialists and treatment, health insurance with GP access is usually the better-value route.
How much does a private GP appointment cost without insurance?
On the clinics covered in our city guides, a face-to-face private GP appointment typically costs between £50 and £155 for 15 to 30 minutes, with phone and video consultations cheaper. Three or four visits a year can therefore cost as much as a basic health insurance premium that includes a digital GP, which is why many people compare the two.
How much does health insurance with private GP access cost?
It varies by insurer, age, location and plan. A digital GP service is often included as standard, even on entry-level cover, while face-to-face GP appointments may be limited or an add-on. Because premiums depend on your details, the practical approach is to compare like-for-like quotes and check whether GP access is included at each tier.
Does private GP access cover tests, prescriptions and referrals?
Partly. The GP consultation gives you advice, prescriptions and referrals, but what follows, such as tests, scans, specialist consultations and treatment, is covered under other parts of your policy, subject to your outpatient limit, excess and pre-authorisation. Private prescription medication is often not covered. The GP appointment is the gateway: its biggest value is the referral that unlocks the rest of your cover.
Which insurers include a private GP?
Most major UK insurers now include some form of private GP, usually a digital service: AXA’s Doctor at Hand, Bupa’s digital GP through Blua Health, Vitality GP and Aviva’s Digital GP. Hours, appointment limits and whether face-to-face visits are included vary by insurer and plan tier, so check the current policy wording rather than assuming round-the-clock access.
Does private GP insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Generally no. Like the rest of private medical insurance, GP access and the cover it leads into are designed for new conditions that arise after your policy starts, not pre-existing or long-term chronic conditions. A digital GP may still give general advice, but onward treatment for an excluded condition will not be covered. Check how your policy is underwritten before relying on it.
Is private GP insurance worth it?
If fast GP access matters to you, with same-day advice, longer appointments and quick referrals, health insurance with GP access can be worthwhile, particularly because it also opens the door to covered scans, specialists and treatment. If you rarely see a GP and only want occasional appointments, a GP membership or paying per visit may be cheaper. Compare the options against how you expect to use them.
Important Information
This 2026 guide is independent general information, not medical, financial or insurance advice. “Private GP insurance” refers to health insurance that includes private GP access; GP hours, appointment limits, inclusions and costs vary by insurer and plan tier and change, so check the current policy wording before buying. Private GP prices quoted are taken from clinics’ published price lists at the time our city guides were written. Health insurance covers new conditions that start after you join, not pre-existing ones. A private GP is not a substitute for emergency care: for urgent or severe symptoms contact NHS 111 or 999. If you compare insurance quotes through this site, we may receive a commission from our FCA-regulated partners at no cost to you; this does not influence our guides.
Cover With a Private GP Included
Compare which UK policies include a digital or face-to-face GP, priced for your age. Bupa, AXA, Aviva, Vitality and more. Free.
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