Many owners, and particularly new owners, that contact me are seeking Practice Management guidance, mentoring for their Practice Manager, or to see if the systems and management are reaching their potential. New owners inevitably adopt the existing team and are unaware of any embedded issues that may lie within the systems and organisation structure.
It always surprises me that these issues are often not addressed during the acquisition process and raised as a concern through the due diligence investigations. Maybe in some cases they are raised, and maybe it isn’t considered a notable problem, or reason to not proceed with the purchase?
However, in some cases the amount of changes needed have not been explored thoroughly enough to highlight what lies ahead.
The financials, property, NHS contracts, Patient Plan numbers and other obvious things that require full investigation, but in my opinion there is not enough diving into the potential murky waters of compliance and team attitudes and culture that deserve as much due diligence.
Compliance
Digging into the compliance of a practice and finding that beneath the surface things are definitely not ideal, can be extremely expensive. There will be a CQC visit, you will likely be interviewed as a new registered manager. Getting into a compliant position can be ridiculously time consuming and costly. I have seen delays in opening due to a practice not be compliant. How much will it cost you not to open until its sorted?
Having a policy or template in a file will not suffice nor should be considered evidence of compliance.
Team attitudes and Culture
A toxic practice is unbelievably devastating for new owners and should be considered, especially at a time when recruitment is so costly and difficult. There is often an higher attrition of team members when a practice is sold, and they can feel unwelcome changes about to be implemented. There will be some that welcome the changes and these will become your allies, but seek them out and get to know your team thoroughly. Is it a happy team? Do some team satisfaction surveys, encourage honestly and openness. Understand what your challenges in these areas may be.
The above being two of the biggest reasons to give you headaches as a new owner that are sometimes overlooked.
While the above being less than ideal may not prevent you from purchasing a practice, being prepared and having an action plan to help you navigate through any of the above issues is the first step into developing a happy successful, and complaint practice with the potential costs involved considered.
