Moving completely away from the NHS is not the only way to shift towards private practice – we hear why.
Rising costs and a disappointing expenses uplift are causing more NHS dental practices to consider handing back their contracts.
However, turning off the NHS tap all at once isn’t the only way to introduce private dentistry to your practice. Here, Practice Plan regional support manager Amy Hansford speaks to one of her clients, Manish Chitnis, who chose to take a softly, softly approach.
Manish and his wife, Shilpa, own a group of five practices. As part of the work done with his dental business coach, Chris Barrow, Manish and his wife, Shilpa, have kept a sharp eye on their practices’ costs over recent years. Because of this it became painfully apparent that continuing to offer NHS services meant that they would be suffering a loss on them.
They eventually reached breaking point. ‘I thought to myself, “why am I doing this?” Because every hour I do NHS dentistry, there is a loss, and there is pressure,’ he says. ‘I had a false supportive thought in my mind that the NHS card was getting us footfall and we were getting some private work because of that. We were living in that world where we were compensating through the private advanced work for the NHS loss.’
Continued annual losses
However, the bald figures hammered home the point that this was not the case. ‘I could look at my numbers every year and say, “this year we have made £50,000 loss on the NHS”. And that has been continuing for so long with ops costs increasing dramatically over the last three years after COVID. The move had to be made because we couldn’t sustain that. We were always trying to do the private advanced dentistry to compensate for the loss. Net profit was literally squeezing and squeezing every day. So, it was a move we had to make.’
Despite the hard facts confronting them, making the move to introduce private dentistry into their NHS only practice was not one that sat easily with them. ‘It’s not always about money,’ he asserts. ‘There are emotions around NHS dentistry. We really respect it, but it is unsustainable. If we’d stayed then the teams would’ve had to reduce, along with our facilities and the patient care experience would have had to change and that’s what we were not prepared to do.’
Including the team in the process
When Manish informed his team of his decision it was met with trepidation by some. ‘There was some nervousness, I’m not going to lie,’ he admits. ‘The team members were concerned about what people would say. We were the only NHS practice in town, and we had enjoyed a great reputation for the last 15 years.’
His solution was to be open with them about the financial implications of continuing to offer NHS services. ‘We were very transparent and said, “if you want to look at the numbers, these are the numbers.” They could see exactly what was happening within the business regarding the financials. Nothing was hidden. They knew what money was coming in and they needed to know what money was going out.’
Having convinced the team, it was time to set the process of converting in motion. Although some dentists have reported being met with a negative response by their ICB when they broached the subject of handing back their NHS contract, this was not Manish’s experience. ‘They were supportive,’ he confirms. ‘There were no challenging situations. We were trying to see if we could support children, but they didn’t offer children’s only contracts.’
Once the final decision had been made and the letters to patients sent out, the team prepared themselves for the prospect that there may be complaints and a backlash online. As part of the conversion with Practice Plan, the team had been trained on how to respond to negative comments and so were well prepared.
‘Everybody had a single simple statement or form of language which had been agreed,’ Manish explains. ‘When the phone calls came, they were very calm. They knew there would be eight or 10 people who were going to say something. But we said, “Okay, this is the decision we have made in the best interests of our patients, our business and its long-term sustainability and that’s what we are going to do”. So, the team was aligned.’
Patient acceptance
In the event there were very few negative reactions. Patients signed up in large numbers and within four weeks, Manish and his team had reached their patient target. ‘Hitting our patient numbers target so quickly showed us how much goodwill there is towards us. Patients were for us, for the facility and the team. It is not just about the NHS. So, the team was ecstatic about how it went.”
Having had some time to assess what life is like in a private practice Manish’s team are enjoying the new regime. They tell him they are now able to breathe. ‘The team tell me although they are still working the same hours, it is at a much better pace and they feel the quality, and see the happiness on the patient’s faces,’ Manish says. ‘The same patients who came for NHS treatment are now being catered for with 45-minute appointments and they are enjoying the experience as well. Being able to bring a smile to the team’s faces is also a big win for me and Shilpa.’
Confident decision
A few months on Manish and Shilpa have decided to convert their practice to private only. What advice would Manish give to anyone thinking of introducing private dentistry into their practice. ‘If I had to turn the clock back, I would not do a partial conversion,’ he says. ‘I’d do a full conversion, as a partial conversion caused a little bit of a rumble. It’s best to take the confident decision and just go for complete.
‘Because sometimes partial can be half-hearted and that can cause some delay and confusion amongst the audience. So, my reflection is it’s not partial, it’s full.’
This year, Practice Plan celebrates 30 years of welcoming practices into the family, helping them to grow profitable and sustainable businesses through the introduction of practice-branded membership plans.
If you’re considering your options away from the NHS and are looking for a plan provider who will hold your hand through the process at a pace that’s right for you, you can start the conversation with Practice Plan today by calling 01691 684165 or to book your one-to-one NHS to private conversation at a date and time that suits you, just visit practiceplan.co.uk/nhsvirtual.
If you’d like to find out more about introducing a plan, and how we can help you, visit practiceplan.co.uk/nhs.
This article is sponsored by Practice Plan.
