They assume it’s for other people. Your marketing’s real job is to give them permission.
The Bigger Brand is a Manchester-based marketing agency working with private healthcare clinics and independent practitioners across the UK and Ireland, including consultant-led clinics, diagnostics, physiotherapy, podiatry, dermatology and minor surgery. The work covers paid advertising, website design, local search, content and enquiry conversion. All advertising follows ASA and CAP rules on health claims, and CQC requirements where they apply.
Plenty of private clinics lean on insurer referrals, consultants’ contacts and word of mouth. Those still count, but self-funding patients find a clinic differently. They search, check the map, read the reviews and look at the website, often late in the evening, before they ever pick up the phone.
Whichever clinic explains itself most clearly at that point usually gets the call. Marketing makes sure yours is the one they find, and that what they read answers the questions that would otherwise stop them enquiring.
That’s the fundamental difference between healthcare marketing and almost everything else. Your competitor is inertia: free at the point of use, and backed by a lifetime of assuming the NHS will get to them eventually.
They’ve been on a list for fourteen months and they’ve stopped asking. They’ve adjusted their life around the problem, and every week that adjustment feels more permanent.
Nobody in that position wakes up thinking “I should go private”. They think “I should probably ring the hospital again”.
So the job is less about convincing them you’re better than the clinic in the next town, and more about making going private feel like a reasonable, affordable, unembarrassing thing that ordinary people do.
Once they’ve accepted that, choosing you is relatively easy.
These come up in roughly this order, and each one stops people before they enquire. Answer all three and you’ve done most of the work before anyone reads a word about your consultants.
Private healthcare still carries a class association for a lot of people. They picture Harley Street and assume five figures. Showing real costs and real patients is what dismantles it.
Very few private healthcare websites publish prices, so patients assume the worst and never enquire. It's the biggest self-inflicted wound in the sector.
Many don't, and almost nobody explains it. A simple "you can self-refer, here's how" removes a barrier most clinics don't know exists.
Nobody chooses a healthcare provider the way they choose a restaurant.
Whether they’d put it into words or not, they’re looking for GMC or other relevant register numbers, NHS experience, where the clinician trained, CQC registration, how long the clinic has been running, and whether the reviews mention outcomes or just the parking.
Most private healthcare websites bury all of this on a team page nobody visits.
It should be everywhere: on the treatment pages, beside the booking button and in the first reply to an enquiry.
Health claims in advertising must be substantiated. Outcome claims, success rates and comparative statements all need evidence you can produce on request.
Prescription-only medicines can’t be advertised to the public. Testimonials can’t make claims the clinic itself couldn’t make. Before-and-after images need documented consent and mustn’t imply typical results.
CQC-registered providers have extra requirements around how their registration and ratings are shown.
Every advert and page is checked before it goes live.
“Waiting for a hip consultation?” outperforms “orthopaedic services” by a wide margin, because it names the situation rather than the service.
Consultation fee, procedure range, and what’s included and what isn’t. Clinics that publish prices get fewer enquiries and far more bookings.
A short, clear page on whether they need a GP referral, what to bring and what happens at the first appointment.
Text and email replies go out the moment someone enquires, followed by WhatsApp messages, and your reception team gets call scripts to work from. This is the stage where most clinics quietly lose enquiries without ever realising.
Video of the person they’d actually see, explaining the condition and the options. In healthcare this outperforms everything else by some distance.
Private healthcare is overwhelmingly a local decision, made within a sensible travel radius. Map pack visibility matters as much as it does in dental.
Healthcare enquiries defer constantly, usually for financial reasons or because the patient is waiting on one more NHS letter. They come back.
We’ll review your website, pricing, local visibility and enquiry handling, and show you what’s stopping patients from booking. It’s free.
It depends on the service and the provider. Many private clinics accept self-referral for consultations, diagnostics and physiotherapy, while some specialties and most insurance-funded treatment need a GP referral. Patients paying for themselves can often book directly, and clinics that state their referral policy clearly usually get more enquiries.
It varies widely by specialty and procedure. Private consultations commonly cost £150 to £300, with diagnostics and procedures priced separately, and many providers offer fixed-price packages covering consultation, procedure and follow-up. Publishing indicative prices or ranges usually improves enquiry quality, because patients often overestimate the cost and don’t enquire at all.
With messaging that speaks directly to NHS waiting times, clear prices or price ranges, an explanation of whether a referral is needed, and visible clinician credentials, including registration numbers and NHS experience. Many patients are unfamiliar with private healthcare, so content that explains the process usually works better than service descriptions alone.
Only if the claims can be backed up. Outcome claims in healthcare advertising must be substantiated with evidence available on request, and mustn’t imply guaranteed or typical results. Prescription-only medicines can’t be advertised to the public, testimonials can’t make claims the provider couldn’t make itself, and before-and-after images need documented patient consent.
