There are a very small number of private intensive care units (I spent some time in one of them a few years ago, for complicated travel-insurance-related reason

There are a very small number of private intensive care units (I spent some time in one of them a few years ago, for complicated travel-insurance-related reasons). AFAIK they are all in London. Any other private hospital may have the facilities to perform routine operations, but relies on the NHS to pick up the pieces if something goes dramatically wrong. And even the private ICUs in London probably aren't as well-equipped as a major NHS teaching hospital.