For UK private clinics
You're turning away patients because the clinical roles won't stay filled
Three leavers in a year isn't bad luck, it's a structural problem. Private clinics compete for the same shrinking pool of clinical staff without the pension, career ladder, or brand recognition the NHS offers.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific workforce and retention options.
- Frequent use of expensive locum or agency staff to cover shifts
- Delays in patient appointments and increased waiting times for treatment
- High workload and stress levels among permanent clinical staff
- Difficulty in launching new services or expanding existing ones due to staffing constraints
- Increased reliance on temporary staffing solutions, leading to higher operational costs and potential quality inconsistencies
- Reduced efficiency in scheduling and patient flow due to staff shortages
- Significant expenditure on recruitment fees and temporary staff, impacting profitability
- Loss of potential revenue from turning away patients or delaying treatments
- Potential for reduced quality of care and patient safety due to inexperienced or overstretched staff
- Delays in diagnosis and treatment, potentially leading to poorer patient outcomes
- Negative patient feedback and online reviews regarding long waiting times or staff changes
- Damage to the clinic's brand as a reliable and high-quality healthcare provider
- The UK private healthcare sector faces a structural workforce shortage, exacerbated by competition with the NHS which offers attractive pension schemes and established career development frameworks.
- Many private clinics struggle to match these benefits, relying heavily on salary alone.
- Furthermore, a lack of proactive workforce planning, inadequate investment in continuous professional development (CPD), and a failure to cultivate a supportive work culture contribute significantly to high vacancy and turnover rates.
In September 2023, the overall NHS vacancy rate was 8.4%, or 121,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles. (The King's Fund, 2024)
Source: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/staff-shortages
How to fix it
Conduct a workforce audit covering current headcount, vacancy rates, turnover reasons, and salary benchmarking against local competitors. Review your employment offer including salary, pension, CPD support, and flexible working. Develop a clinical career pathway that gives staff a reason to stay and grow. Engage a healthcare-specialist recruiter for hard-to-fill roles. Consider international recruitment for nursing roles where UK supply is constrained.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
The UK private healthcare sector faces a structural workforce shortage that is more acute than the NHS because private clinics compete for staff on salary alone without the NHS pension, career development frameworks, or job security. Clinics that have not reviewed their employment offer, career development pathways, or working culture in the past two years are at a structural disadvantage. The cost of a single clinical vacancy in a private clinic is typically £30,000 to £80,000 per year in lost revenue and locum costs.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
No verified UK data available
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.