Hip · Knee · Shoulder · Spine · Foot & ankle
An independent guide to joint and bone surgery across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Compare public waiting times against the private pathways open to you, and get matched to a consultant taking new patients.
Typical time from GP referral to surgery. Choose your procedure.
Procedure guides
What the operation involves, how long recovery really takes, what it costs privately here, and which hospitals do the most of them.
Total and partial replacement, resurfacing, arthroscopy and impingement surgery.
Hip replacement · Resurfacing · FAI · Revision
Replacement, partial replacement, ACL reconstruction, meniscal and cartilage repair.
Knee replacement · Partial knee · ACL · Meniscectomy
Rotator cuff repair, subacromial decompression, replacement and frozen shoulder.
Rotator cuff · Replacement · Decompression · Tennis elbow
Discectomy, decompression, fusion and injections for back and neck pain.
Discectomy · Fusion · Decompression · Nerve root block
Carpal tunnel, trigger finger, Dupuytren’s and ganglion removal — often day cases.
Carpal tunnel · Trigger finger · Dupuytren’s · Ganglion
Bunion correction, hammer toe, ankle arthroscopy, fusion and Achilles repair.
Bunion surgery · Hammer toe · Ankle fusion · Achilles
Arthroscopic and soft-tissue surgery, plus the rehab pathway that follows it.
Arthroscopy · Ligament repair · Cartilage · Return to sport
Scoliosis, hip dysplasia, limb alignment and fracture care in under-16s.
Scoliosis · Hip dysplasia · Club foot · Growth plate
Not ready for surgery yet? See injections, physiotherapy and pain management — what to try first, and when it stops working.
Four routes off the list
Most people only know about two. Depending on where you live, what cover you hold and what you need done, one of these is usually faster and cheaper than you expect.
Route 1
If you hold cover with VHI, Laya, Irish Life Health or a UK insurer, most orthopaedic surgery is covered, subject to waiting periods and your excess.
Route 2
Private hospitals quote an all-in package price covering the surgeon, anaesthetist, implant, theatre and your inpatient stay.
Route 3
If you live in Ireland, you can be treated privately in Northern Ireland, pay up front, then claim reimbursement from the HSE.
Route 4
Treatment in another EU or EEA state, again pay-then-reclaim, with the HSE refunding up to the Irish public cost.
Indicative private costs
All-in package prices at Irish private hospitals, and the typical range for the same procedure in Northern Ireland. Package pricing normally includes the surgeon, anaesthetist, theatre, implant and inpatient stay.
| Procedure | Ireland — self-pay | Northern Ireland | Typical stay | Back to desk work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total hip replacement | €14,000 – €19,500 | £11,500 – £15,000 | 2–4 nights | 6 weeks |
| Total knee replacement | €15,000 – €21,000 | £12,000 – £16,000 | 2–4 nights | 6–8 weeks |
| Knee arthroscopy | €3,500 – €5,500 | £2,800 – £4,200 | Day case | 1–2 weeks |
| ACL reconstruction | €7,500 – €11,000 | £6,000 – £9,000 | Day case | 2–3 weeks |
| Rotator cuff repair | €8,000 – €12,000 | £6,500 – £9,500 | Day case – 1 night | 2–4 weeks |
| Lumbar discectomy | €11,000 – €16,000 | £9,000 – £13,000 | 1–2 nights | 4–6 weeks |
| Carpal tunnel release | €1,800 – €3,000 | £1,400 – £2,400 | Day case | 1–2 weeks |
| Bunion correction | €4,500 – €7,000 | £3,500 – £5,500 | Day case | 2–6 weeks |
Ranges are indicative and reviewed quarterly. They are not quotations. The final price depends on your consultant, the implant used, imaging, any pre-existing conditions and your length of stay. Complex or revision surgery sits above these ranges. If you hold health insurance, most of this is covered — check your excess and any waiting period before you commit.
What happens after you enquire
Two minutes. The area affected, roughly how long it’s been going on, whether you’ve already seen a consultant, and your county. No medical records needed at this stage.
Within one working day you’ll have the consultants and hospitals covering your area who are taking new patients, their next available appointment, and an indicative price for each route open to you.
If you want to proceed, the clinic contacts you and you deal with them from there. If you’d rather stay on the public list or try physiotherapy first, that’s a legitimate answer and nobody will chase you.
Coverage
Private orthopaedic clinics, consultant lists and hospital profiles for every county in Ireland and every trust area in Northern Ireland.
Free assessment
Tell us what’s going on and we’ll come back with the consultants covering your area, their availability, and what each route would cost you.
Common questions
No. Being seen or treated privately doesn’t remove you from a public list, and you can stay on it while you consider your options. If you do have the surgery privately you should tell the public hospital so the slot goes to someone else.
Yes. Private hospitals here quote fixed self-pay package prices, and most offer finance or instalment plans. For many day-case procedures the total is a few thousand euro rather than tens of thousands.
If you live in Ireland, you can be referred by your GP or consultant for private treatment in Northern Ireland. You pay the provider yourself and then apply to the HSE for reimbursement, which is capped at what the treatment would cost in the Irish public system. You need the referral before you travel, and you should budget for the difference between what you pay and what comes back.
The mechanics are similar — pay up front, claim back afterwards, capped at the Irish public cost — but the Cross-Border Directive covers treatment in other EU or EEA countries rather than Northern Ireland. People most often use it for hip, knee and spinal surgery.
No. Clinics pay us when we send them a patient enquiry. That’s how the site is funded, and it’s why we say it up front rather than burying it.
No. Your details go only to the clinics we match you with for your specific enquiry. We don’t sell data to third parties or add you to marketing lists you didn’t ask for.
Every consultant we list is on the Specialist Division of the Irish Medical Council register or the GMC Specialist Register in the UK. You can and should check any surgeon yourself — both registers are public and searchable.
Public figures come from the National Treatment Purchase Fund, which publishes Irish hospital waiting list data monthly, and from Northern Ireland Department of Health statistics. Private timelines are typical availability reported by the clinics we work with. We review all of it monthly and date-stamp it.