How I Got Out Of The Hole

Over the last few years, I have gone from doing OK, to doing really badly and now I am doing better than ever.

I have been in a really bad place and maybe I was naive, but I really didn’t expect it to be so bad.

I left the NHS five years ago and I thought I would make things even better for my patients by opening my own clinic.

If I had known then what I know now, there is no way I would have opened my clinic at that time.

My private practice was doing OK, so I felt that I could cover the overheads of the clinic.

What I didn’t realise was that as soon as I opened my clinic, the local private hospital stopped sending me patients. 

I went from having two busy clinics a week to nothing.

I had a five years lease with permanent staff and payroll to fulfil.

I had to equip the clinic not only with tables, desks, computers, phones, sofas, and consulting couches, but carpets, paint, window-dressings – I could go on.

It was grim.

I was desperate and I needed to do more work.

I didn’t know where to get help.

I went to plastic surgery meetings and conferences and they talked about the latest advances in implants and devices, which was all very interesting, but it wasn’t going to help me.

I needed to get more patients.

No one was really talking about how you go about getting more patients or keeping the patients that you have already got, which is what business is all about.

I started to go to business meetings and seminars and I found that this had a profound effect on my practice.

In fact, it got me out of my hole.

I realised what I need to do to start making my practice more profitable.

In fact, what I learned was that it was all about delivering a better service to patients.

It is all very well learning about the latest devices and implants, but that is not going to have an immediate and tangible effect on your practice today or tomorrow.

I learned about how to stand out in a crowded marketplace and how to make sure that patients wanted to come and see me rather than just a.n.other surgeon.

I have put together what I have learned in a free ebook ‘5 Steps To Build a Valuable Practice’ and you can get a FREE copy here.

I talk about what you need to focus on in your private practice that will make a difference to the outcomes that you get for your patients.

We are all focused on getting good outcomes, but it is surprising how little many of us think about the whole experience we are giving to our patients:

• how we handle patient enquiries
• what information we give to patients before and after they come for a consultation
• how we can be distinctive and make patients feel special
• how we can make sure that patients don’t forget about us and encourage them to write reviews and refer their friends to us

It is not about advertising or special offers.

It is about looking after patients.

Please feel free to download a copy and let me know what you think.