Why Private GP Clinics Are the Fastest-Growing Healthcare Model

The NHS waiting list in England has become one of the defining public health challenges of the decade. Millions of patients are waiting for treatment, and the pressure on general practice has never been greater. Appointments that once took a day or two to arrange now take weeks. When patients do get through, consultations are often rushed to ten minutes or less. The system is not failing because of incompetence or lack of dedication. It is failing because demand has outstripped capacity, and the gap continues to widen. Into this gap, a different model of primary care is emerging — and it is growing faster than almost any other segment of UK healthcare.

Private GP clinics are not new. They have existed in various forms for decades. What is new is the scale and pace of growth. Clinics are opening in high streets, business parks, and converted residential properties across every major city in the UK. They are being started not just by experienced physicians but by healthcare entrepreneurs who see an underserved market and a regulatory framework that, once understood, provides a clear path from concept to operation.

The NHS Waiting Time Crisis

The scale of the challenge facing NHS general practice is difficult to overstate. The waiting list for hospital treatment in England has been reported at over seven million patients. While this figure relates to secondary care, the pressure cascades directly into primary care. GPs are the gatekeepers. Every referral, every diagnostic request, every follow-up — it all flows through general practice. And general practice is stretched to its limits.

Patients report waiting two to three weeks for a routine GP appointment. In some areas, the wait is longer. Many surgeries have moved to a triage-first model where patients call at 8am, describe their symptoms to a receptionist, and then wait to be called back — if they are called back at all. The experience is frustrating for patients and demoralising for clinicians who entered medicine to care for people, not to ration access to ten-minute slots.

For a growing segment of the population, the calculation has become straightforward. They value their time. They want to speak to a doctor when they need one, not when the system permits it. They want consultations that last long enough to address their concerns properly. And they are willing to pay for it. This is not about wealth or privilege. It is about access. Many of the patients turning to private GPs are ordinary working people who have concluded that the NHS, in its current state, cannot give them the primary care they need when they need it.

The Private GP Model

A private GP clinic operates under the same clinical standards as any NHS practice. It must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. Its doctors must be GMC-registered and hold appropriate medical indemnity insurance. The clinical governance requirements are identical. What differs is the business model and the patient experience.

Private clinics typically offer two pricing structures. The first is pay-per-appointment, where patients book individual consultations at a set fee, typically ranging from £60 to £150 depending on the type and length of the appointment. The second is a subscription model, where patients pay a monthly fee — commonly between £50 and £100 — for a defined package of services that may include unlimited GP consultations, same-day access, extended appointments, and direct communication with their doctor via secure messaging.

The patient experience is markedly different from NHS general practice. Appointments are typically 20 to 30 minutes rather than ten. Waiting times are measured in hours or days, not weeks. Patients often see the same doctor at every visit, providing genuine continuity of care. And because the clinic is not processing thousands of patients per week, the administrative burden on clinicians is lower, which means more time spent on actual medicine and less on system-driven paperwork.

The Business Economics

The economics of private general practice are compelling. Unlike a hospital, a GP clinic has relatively modest premises requirements. A well-located clinic with two to three consulting rooms, a reception area, and a treatment room can operate effectively in a space of 100 to 150 square metres. Fit-out costs are manageable. Staffing requirements are lean: one or two GPs, a practice nurse, a receptionist, and a practice manager can serve a patient panel of several hundred subscribers comfortably.

Revenue per patient is substantially higher than in NHS general practice, where GPs receive a capitation payment that works out to a modest amount per consultation. In a private model, each consultation directly generates revenue. A GP seeing six patients in a morning session at £80 per appointment generates £480 in a single session. The subscription model is even more attractive from a business perspective because it provides predictable, recurring revenue — the most valuable kind in any business.

Patient retention in private general practice is remarkably high. When patients find a GP they trust, who knows their history, who gives them time, and who is available when they need care, they do not leave. Churn rates in well-run subscription clinics are significantly lower than in most subscription businesses. This creates a compounding effect: each month, the patient base grows, revenue stabilises, and the economics improve. Most private GP clinics that reach a patient panel of 300 to 500 subscribers achieve strong profitability.

CQC Registration: The Framework That Guides You

Every private GP clinic in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission before it can see its first patient. For many aspiring clinic owners, this is the point where the idea stalls. CQC registration sounds intimidating. It sounds like bureaucracy. It sounds like a barrier. In practice, it is something far more useful: a comprehensive framework that tells you exactly what a well-run clinic looks like.

The CQC assesses all healthcare services against five key questions:

• Safe — Are patients protected from abuse and avoidable harm? This covers everything from infection control and medication management to safeguarding and incident reporting.
• Effective — Does the care achieve good outcomes? This looks at evidence-based practice, clinical governance, staff competence, and consent processes.
• Caring — Are patients treated with compassion, dignity, and respect? This assesses the patient experience, involvement in care decisions, and emotional support.
• Responsive — Is the service organised to meet patients' needs? This covers access, appointment availability, complaints handling, and how the service adapts to individual requirements.
• Well-Led — Is the leadership and governance of the service effective? This examines management structures, quality monitoring, financial viability, and organisational culture.

For each of these five questions, the CQC publishes detailed guidance on what "good" and "outstanding" look like. This guidance is publicly available and regularly updated. It means a new clinic owner can sit down before they have even signed a lease and know, with precision, what every aspect of their service needs to look like. They know what policies to have in place. They know what records to keep. They know what training their staff need. They know what inspectors will look for and what evidence will demonstrate compliance.

Far from being a barrier, the CQC framework is the most comprehensive operational blueprint any healthcare entrepreneur could ask for. The five key questions are not obstacles to overcome. They are the definition of what a safe, effective, well-run clinic looks like. Follow them, and you have a clinic that works.

What You Need to Start

The practical requirements for opening a private GP clinic are well-defined, which is precisely what makes this sector accessible for prepared operators. The checklist is not short, but every item on it has a clear specification and a defined standard.

CQC registration is the foundational requirement. You must apply to the CQC as a registered provider, nominate a registered manager, and demonstrate that your service meets the five key questions before opening. The application requires evidence of your governance framework, policies, procedures, and staffing arrangements.

Premises must be suitable for clinical use, meeting standards for hygiene, accessibility, patient privacy, and medical equipment. Purpose-built medical suites exist in most cities, but many successful clinics operate from converted commercial or residential properties that have been adapted to meet clinical standards.

Medical indemnity insurance is essential for every clinician. GPs must hold individual indemnity cover, and the practice itself should carry organisational liability insurance. This is non-negotiable and is one of the first things the CQC will verify.

A clinical governance framework is the operational backbone of the practice. This includes clinical audit processes, significant event analysis, complaints procedures, prescribing protocols, and mechanisms for ensuring that care delivery is continuously monitored and improved.

Policies and procedures represent the largest single documentation requirement. A comprehensive GP practice needs over 200 individual documents covering everything from safeguarding and infection control to data protection, medication management, recruitment, and health and safety. Each policy defines the standard; each procedure defines the method. Together, they form the complete operating system for the clinic.

This documentation requirement is where many aspiring clinic owners stall. The volume is substantial, and writing comprehensive, regulation-aligned policies from scratch takes months of dedicated work. This is the bottleneck — not the clinical knowledge, not the business model, not the regulation itself, but the sheer documentation effort required to demonstrate compliance before doors open. It is also the bottleneck that platforms like Zundara are specifically designed to remove, providing complete, day-one-ready documentation packages for GP practice ventures.

Qualified GPs with GMC registration and relevant experience complete the picture. Many private clinics are founded by GPs who have worked in NHS general practice and want to offer a different model of care. Others are founded by healthcare entrepreneurs who employ salaried GPs or engage them on a sessional basis.

The Growth Trajectory

The private GP model is not standing still. Three trends are accelerating growth beyond traditional face-to-face consultations.

Telehealth integration has transformed the economics of private primary care. Video and telephone consultations allow clinics to serve patients who cannot attend in person, extend operating hours without extending premises, and offer rapid-access triage that increases patient satisfaction while improving clinical efficiency. Many private GP clinics now operate a hybrid model where routine follow-ups and minor consultations are handled remotely, freeing in-person capacity for examinations and procedures that require physical presence.

Corporate wellness contracts represent a significant and growing revenue stream. Employers are increasingly offering private GP access as an employee benefit, recognising that faster access to primary care reduces absenteeism, improves productivity, and supports recruitment and retention. A single corporate contract can add dozens or hundreds of patients to a clinic's panel, with the employer paying a per-employee monthly fee. This is recurring, predictable, B2B revenue that insulates the clinic from the variability of individual patient bookings.

NHS overflow work is an emerging opportunity. As NHS waiting lists remain elevated, some Clinical Commissioning Groups and Integrated Care Boards are exploring partnerships with private providers to deliver additional capacity. Private GP clinics that are CQC-registered, clinically governed, and operationally mature are well-positioned to take on this work, effectively serving both private patients and NHS-funded patients from the same premises.

Why Healthcare Is One of the Most Robust Regulated Sectors

Private GP clinics do not just represent a good business opportunity. They represent one of the most structurally resilient business models available in any sector. The reasons are fundamental and unlikely to change.

Demographic demand is permanent. The UK population is ageing. An ageing population requires more primary care, more chronic disease management, more medication reviews, more diagnostic referrals, and more routine health monitoring. This demand is not cyclical. It is structural. It will increase every year for the foreseeable future, regardless of economic conditions, government policy, or technological change.

Healthcare is recession-proof. People do not stop needing medical care during economic downturns. In fact, demand for accessible, affordable private primary care often increases during recessions as patients seek to avoid long NHS waits that could affect their ability to work. A GP consultation is not a discretionary purchase. It is a necessity. This makes private primary care one of the most resilient revenue models in any sector.

High barriers create sustainable competitive moats. The CQC registration requirement, the clinical governance framework, the documentation volume, the need for qualified clinicians — these are not weaknesses. They are strengths. They mean that anyone who successfully navigates the setup process has built a business that cannot easily be replicated by a casual competitor. The barriers to entry, once crossed, become barriers to competition. Every policy, every procedure, every governance structure that the CQC requires is also a structural advantage that protects established operators from being undercut by underprepared newcomers.

This is the fundamental insight that separates healthcare from most other business sectors. In unregulated industries, anyone can enter the market at any time, often with minimal preparation and no quality framework. Competition is constant, margins are squeezed, and differentiation is difficult. In regulated healthcare, the framework itself creates a moat. Operators who invest in proper documentation, governance, and compliance do not just satisfy the regulator. They build businesses that are structurally difficult to compete with.

The Bottom Line

Private GP clinics are growing because every underlying factor points in the same direction. NHS capacity cannot keep pace with demand. Patients are willing to pay for accessible, unhurried primary care. The subscription model creates predictable, recurring revenue. The CQC framework provides a complete operational blueprint. Demographic trends guarantee increasing demand for decades to come. And the regulatory barriers that deter unprepared entrants are the same barriers that protect established operators.

The model works because it addresses a genuine, growing, and structurally permanent need. It works because the economics are sound at a modest scale. It works because the regulatory framework, far from being an obstacle, is the most comprehensive guide to operational excellence that any business owner could ask for. And it works because the barriers to entry, once overcome, become the foundations of a durable competitive advantage.

For anyone considering a healthcare venture, the question is no longer whether private GP clinics are viable. The evidence on that point is clear. The question is whether you are prepared to meet the standard that the CQC defines — and if you arrive with the right documentation, the right governance, and the right framework from day one, the answer is straightforward. The blueprint exists. The demand is there. And the opportunity is growing every month.