Spire Southampton Hospital is at Chalybeate Close, Tremona Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 6UY — you may also see it referred to as the Chalybeate Hospital, its original name. The main number is 023 8077 5544. It sits next to Southampton General Hospital in the Shirley area, north-west of the city centre, and there is free parking on site. Southampton Central is the nearest mainline station, around 3km away.

Cardiac, cancer and complex care — and it’s genuinely unusual among private hospitals in this respect. It provides adult cardiac and thoracic surgery, has a dedicated cancer care suite (the Chalybeate Suite), and crucially operates its own intensive care and high dependency unit on site. Most private hospitals have no ICU and must transfer patients to the NHS if care escalates, so this materially widens the range of complex and higher-risk surgery that can safely be done here.

Yes — it has seven intensive care and high dependency beds on site, alongside 78 beds in total (59 en-suite patient rooms and 12 day-case beds) and five operating theatres. This matters more than most people realise when choosing a private hospital: the presence of on-site intensive care is why the hospital can undertake cardiac surgery and other complex procedures, and it reduces the likelihood of transfer to an NHS hospital if your condition changes after surgery.

Spire publishes fixed-price packages agreed in advance, which typically bundle the consultation, procedure and aftercare. As a guide to UK private market rates: an MRI scan £350–£900, a consultation £200–£250, a colonoscopy £1,849–£2,690, cataract surgery £2,500–£4,000 per eye, a knee replacement £12,000–£16,000 and a hip replacement £11,000–£17,000. Always request a written quote for your specific treatment confirming exactly what is included, as complex cardiac work is priced individually.

All the major UK insurers recognise Spire hospitals — Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality and WPA — but whether Spire Southampton is included depends on your specific hospital list and tier rather than the insurer alone. Narrower or guided lists may exclude it. Check your policy schedule, use your insurer’s hospital finder, confirm your consultant is recognised at this specific site, and obtain pre-authorisation before booking anything.

Privately, consultations are typically available within days rather than months, and diagnostic scans often within the same week. Surgery timing depends on the procedure and consultant availability, but planned operations are generally scheduled in weeks rather than the months common on NHS waiting lists. If speed is your priority, ask about the first available consultant rather than requesting a specific named one, since that usually shortens the wait considerably.

Yes. The hospital treats self-paying patients and offers fixed-price packages agreed before treatment, so you know the cost upfront. Many diagnostic tests and consultations can be booked directly without a GP referral, though a referral letter is helpful clinical background and some specialties prefer one. Finance options are available if you want to spread the cost. The hospital also treats NHS patients under local contracts, so an NHS referral there may be possible.