Established practice

Clinical time is being swallowed by admin.

When clinicians and managers spend their days on paperwork, patients and income suffer. Here is how to take that time back.

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steps: 7; steps
to start: 10 mins a day for a week; to start
scorecard: Free; scorecard

The short answer

Clinician time is the most expensive time in the clinic, and it leaks into letters, forms and phone calls. Log a week of admin, stop the tasks nobody needs, move the rest to the right person, then automate reminders, forms and letters. Many clinics can win back several hours per clinician each week.

What good looks like

Your numbers, before and after

Weekly admin time

Clinicians 3 hours each · letters out the same week

Reminders and forms automated

ReportTasksAutomation

Illustrative sample, not a real person or result.

7 steps

Do it yourself: step by step

0 of 7 done

Every clinician and manager notes admin time by task type for five working days, using the log below.
Time
10 mins a day for a week
Typical cost
Free
Who does it
Whole team, collated by practice manager
Done when: You have total hours by task and by person
Switch on reminders, online forms, online booking and letter templates in your practice system. Consider dictation or AI letter drafting, with the clinician checking every letter before it is sent.
Time
2 to 6 weeks
Typical cost
Often included in existing software; dictation tools typically tens of pounds a month per user (Solvable estimate)
Who does it
Practice manager with PMS supplier
Done when: Reminders, forms and letter templates run without manual effort

This problem is Solvable.

Copy this table

Admin time log and task allocation grid

Free to copy, adapt and use. No sign-up.

Table

Admin time log

Name: [ ] Role: [ ] Week starting: [date]

Record minutes spent on each task type each day.

Task type	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Total
Clinic letters and reports	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Results review and filing	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Phone calls to patients	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Emails	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Booking and rescheduling	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Insurer forms and authorisations	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Billing queries	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Data entry or re-keying	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Compliance paperwork	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Other: [ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]

---

Task allocation grid

Task	Hours a week	Who does it now	Needs a clinician?	Stop / Move / Automate / Keep	New owner	By when
[Typing clinic letters]	[ ]	[Consultant]	[Check and sign only]	[Move typing, automate template]	[Medical secretary]	[date]
[Appointment reminders]	[ ]	[Reception by phone]	No	Automate	[PMS]	[date]
[Insurer pre-authorisation]	[ ]	[ ]	No	Move	[ ]	[date]
[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]

Target: clinician admin time down from [ ] to [ ] hours a week by [date].

Avoid these

Common mistakes

Buying new software before knowing where the time actually goes.
Letting clinicians type their own letters because it has always been done that way.
Automating a broken process, so it fails faster.
Using AI letter drafting without a clinician checking each letter.
Adding admin staff without moving tasks to them.

Free personal check

Done by Paul Robinson, not software

Answer seven quick questions and I'll show you where clinical time is leaking into admin

What I need from you

Seven tap answers about admin in your clinic
Your practice management system

What you get

Where your clinicians' admin time is going
The three tasks to stop, move or automate first
What your current system can already do

Within 2 working days

No sign-in, no sales call. I read every request myself and reply on WhatsApp.

Free tools

Check where you stand

How much is admin costing you?

You know how much time goes on admin each week
You've removed duplicate forms and unnecessary steps
Clinicians only do tasks that need a clinician
Reminders, confirmations and forms are automated
You review the admin load every quarter

0 of 5 answered

Answer them all to see your score.

Your answers aren't linked to you. We keep anonymous totals to improve these checks.

Your illustrative estimate

£38,500

Solvable estimate. Rounded to the nearest £500. Updates as you type.

Hours a day lost

Starting figure 2. Change it to match your practice.

Share removable

Starting figure 60% (midpoint of 50% to 70% (see benchmark)). Change it to match your practice.

Hourly clinical revenue

Starting figure £200. Change it to match your practice.

Clinical days a year

Starting figure 230. Change it to match your practice.

Share that becomes billable

Starting figure 70%. Change it to match your practice.

Formula

Annual value recovered = hours a clinical day lost to admin × share removable × hourly clinical revenue × clinical days a year × share of freed time that becomes billable

Variables and defaults

hours a day lost: 2
share removable: 50% to 70% (see benchmark)
hourly clinical revenue: £200
clinical days a year: 230
share that becomes billable: 70%

Defaults only. Change them in the calculator to use your own numbers.

Assumptions and defaults

hours a day lost = 2
share removable = 50% to 70% (see benchmark)
hourly clinical revenue = £200
clinical days a year = 230
share that becomes billable = 70%

Values clinical time that can be freed from admin and filled. With the defaults, about £32,200 to £45,100 a year per clinician (2 × 50% to 70% × £200 × 230 × 70%). Solvable estimate.

Benchmarks

2 hours a clinical day
Typical documentation and admin time per clinician in a busy private clinic without automation
Solvable estimate
50 to 70 percent
Share of that documentation time that templates, dictation and AI-assisted drafting can typically remove, with clinician checking
Solvable estimate

Every supplier I know who solves this. No one pays to be listed. Where I've worked with them, I say so.

DICT8
Clinical software and AI
Medical typing service where clinicians dictate by app and UK-based transcribers return typed letters within hours.
UK medical typing service where speciality-matched secretaries type clinicians' dictated letters, which helps clear a letter backlog.
Best for: Consultants and clinics replacing in-house typing
Price on request
No commercial relationship
Granite PMS
Practice management software
Practice management software for private consultants and clinics.
Practice software for consultants with letters, reminders and billing in one place.
Best for: Private consultants and small clinics
Price on request
Former client
Heidi Health
Clinical software and AI
AI medical scribe that drafts clinical notes, letters and follow-up tasks from consultations, for NHS and private clinicians.
AI tool for clinicians that handles the consultation note, coding, letter workflow and the tasks that follow each appointment.
Best for: Consultants and clinics wanting faster notes and letters
Free plan; paid plans price on request
No commercial relationship
Lila's Desk
Reception and secretarial
Remote medical secretaries and admin assistants for small clinics and private practices, booked by the hour.
Remote medical secretaries to take typing, phones and bookings off clinicians.
Best for: Small clinics and private practices
Price on request
No commercial relationship

Know a supplier I have missed? Tell me Suggest yourself

Admin tasks accumulate faster than anyone is assigned to absorb them Clinical staff pick up paperwork because no one else is set up to Processes were built for a smaller clinic and never redesigned as it grew

Administrative tasks are not clearly separated from clinical ones
Systems require manual re-entry rather than automating routine steps
Headcount has not kept pace with patient volume
No one owns process improvement as a dedicated responsibility

Paul Robinson

14 years in UK private healthcare

I solve this one for clinic and hospital teams

Want a hand? I'll look at your situation and tell you the three things I'd tackle first.

A few quick questions, about two minutes. I read every one myself and usually reply the same day.

No sales call unless you ask for one. Just a straight answer from me.

I reply personally, usually the same day.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is AI dictation safe to use for clinic letters?

It can be, if the supplier meets UK data protection requirements, you have a data processing agreement, and a clinician checks every letter before it is sent.

How much time can we realistically save?

It depends on your starting point. On this page's estimates (2 hours of admin a clinical day, half of it removable), that is about 5 hours per clinician in a five-day week (Solvable estimate).

We are too busy to log admin for a week.

Then log two days. Even partial data shows where most of the time goes.

Should we hire another administrator?

Only after you have stopped and automated what you can. Otherwise new staff absorb the same inefficiency.

What should a clinician never hand over?

Clinical decisions, results interpretation and signing letters. Everything around those can usually move.

Last reviewed: 30 October 2026

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The short answer

Your numbers, before and after

Do it yourself: step by step

1Log a week of admin10 mins a day for a week · Free

2Stop what does not need doing2 hours · Free

3Move tasks to the right person1 to 2 weeks · Free, or extra admin hours · Medium

4Automate the repeatable work2 to 6 weeks · Often included in existing software; dictation tools typically tens of pounds a month per user (Solvable estimate)

5Set a letter turnaround standard1 hour · Free

6Consider remote admin support1 to 2 weeks to set up · Typically hourly or monthly packages

7Review every quarter1 hour a quarter · Free