While they no doubt increase direct construction costs, my understanding is that planning for hospitals in the UK is leaning towards private rooms because they

While they no doubt increase direct construction costs, my understanding is that planning for hospitals in the UK is leaning towards private rooms because they have a bunch of not-immediately-obvious benefits that can reduce cost in the long term – better infection control, less bed-blocking, improved recuperation times, things like that. This information is third-hand though, and I don't have enough knowledge to say for sure. But it certainly doesn't seem unreasonable that this could be the case!