The high street ultrasound clinic headache

High street ultrasound clinics are on the rise, which sounds like a good thing. Right?

I'm getting myself in the ultrasound zone before I head to my first ever BMUS event in December, so I've been keeping a close eye on news in the industry. There have been several news stories as of late around the emergence of high street ultrasound clinics, but not for good reasons, sadly. Growing concerns are being raised around the lack of qualified and, most importantly, regulated clinics that are taking in patients and either giving a misdiagnosis, or missing the diagnosis completely.

BMUS has made their stance clear on these 'souvenir' ultrasound clinics that operate in unregulated, private clinics - they need to be properly regulated sooner rather than later (read their full statement here). These clinics have risen in popularity over the years as they help make scans more easily accessible for people (who can afford them) and are particularly popular amongst pregnant people. To keep all parties in the space happy there needs to be an amicable solution, and that could well be found through internal changes or external hiring…

Option 1 - Investment into training and certification

The main problem that BMUS has with these clinics is the lack of qualified sonographers who are carrying out scans for patients that could potentially need follow-up treatment - there have been a few too many cases where potentially major issues have been missed. One way these clinics can bring the necessary skills and qualifications into their company is by investing into their existing staff.

Providing a budget for staff to get the qualifications they need to bring them up to the standard that BMUS are looking for will not only bring greater credibility to these ultrasound clinics and more accurate results for patients, but staff members will feel valued in their role, too. Investing in your staff shows them that you are willing to upskill them and want them to grow with the team, which should act as a great retention tool. It's a win-win really but is a long-term strategy.

Option 2 - Talent Pipelining

The second option comes with the caveat that it again requires a long-term mindset, and you won't reap the benefits for a little while. Talent pipelining is all about identifying the type of candidates you will be interested in at an early stage, and keeping in touch with them to get them to eventually join your company once they have acquired the necessary skillsets. For this to be most effective, you will likely be looking out for soon-to-be graduates or those that are currently in the early stages of their training.

The steps to set up a strong talent pipeline can include the following: Defining your future talent needs (in this case, qualified sonographers), building out a network of diverse candidates through the most appropriate channels, and then maintaining consistent contact with the leading candidates. As I mentioned this process is no quick fix, but it can be a great option to sure up a conveyor belt of talented people.

Option 3 - Locum Staff

There is quite the availability of locum staff in the medical imaging space right now, so this could be a good option for these high street clinics to secure qualified staff at short notice. This can be a good stop gap until they can reap the rewards of options 1 or 2, but I'd suggest that this is not a feasible option in the long term. And there is good reason for that - locum rates are sky-high! Locum staff expect to earn anywhere between 2x and 3x more than NHS bandings for the same roles, which is exactly why there is such an availability for these staff.

I wrote a blog around these locum rates, namely how companies can compete against them. Read more about this here.

Option 4 - Full-time Staff

This option is unsurprisingly my favourite, but hiring full-time, fully qualified sonographers is the best way to bring credibility to these clinics. Competing against the likes of the NHS for these staff can be tricky, but there are certainly ways to go about it. The best move is to focus your proposition on the aspects of the job that are more favourable than competitors. Whether that is salary and compensation, working pattern and schedule, or an extraordinarily good benefits package, it's this difference that makes a job offer stand out the most in a competitive market.

How do you make sure potential candidates know that your offering is different? Don't be afraid to shout about it wherever you can. Social media is a great place to make content if your benefits package is top-notch, and the careers page on your website should also make these benefits or favourable working conditions clear for any visitor to see. If it's a great salary that makes you different, make that clear in the job advert!

Looking ahead to BMUS

I'm sure this is a topic that will be much talked about at the upcoming BMUS event, which I'm excited to be attending for the first time on the 10th of December. My day is quickly filling up with meetings, but if you're also attending and fancy chatting over a coffee then please do get in touch with me on adam.leeder@fmctalent.com. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as I can!