Research Practitioner Man Dynamic Pose Chart Blue Hero

Three in four UK clinic owners have no clue what it costs them to land a new patient

A 2026 survey of UK clinic owners found that most of them are setting marketing budgets without knowing their own cost per patient, which, if you run any kind of practice, is a bit like driving with your eyes shut and calling it confidence.

Page updated: 14 Aug 2026

Whole-practice growth for wellbeing firms. Rooted in Wiltshire UK, working worldwide.

Practices that don't track what a new client actually costs them tend to keep spending on whatever feels busiest, rather than whatever works.

Original Research	A benchmarking survey found that most UK clinic owners can't say what it costs them to acquire a single new patient.
Source	https://hmdg.co.uk/private-practice-barometer/uk-private-practice-benchmark-glossary/
Overview	HMDG's UK Private Practice Barometer surveyed 715 clinic owners on marketing knowledge, including whether they track cost-per-acquisition.
Year	2026
Publisher	Industry body, HMDG (UK Private Practice Barometer)
Relevance to Wellbeing	Directly relevant to clinical and multi-practitioner practices, where marketing spend often runs on habit rather than figures.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell a decent sample size and a clean, checkable figure, though the methodology behind it isn't fully spelled out.
Our Summary	A sample of 715 clinic owners is large enough to take seriously. The exact survey method and how "knowing your CAC" was measured aren't disclosed. It's a specific, useful number rather than a vague industry impression. It's UK clinic owners only, so it may not translate neatly to coaches working from a spare room.
Our Geo View	Applies broadly to all countries, though the sample itself is UK clinics.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because if you don't know what a client costs to find, you can't tell whether that referral scheme is actually cheaper than the adverts.
Therapy: this matters because a full diary can hide a leaking marketing budget just as easily as an empty one.
Training: this matters because chasing new sign-ups without knowing the cost per head makes every "successful" campaign a guess dressed up as a win.
Alternative Healing: this matters because word-of-mouth feels free, but the time and effort behind it usually isn't, and nobody's counting it.
Clinical: this matters because clinics are exactly who this survey is about, and most of them are apparently guessing.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because bigger overheads make a blind spot on acquisition costs an expensive one to have.

Where this came from

A UK benchmarking survey of clinic owners found that most of them couldn't say what it costs to bring in a new patient.

HMDG, UK Private Practice Barometer, 2026.

Credibility flags: sample size of 715 disclosed, full methodology not spelled out, publisher is an industry body rather than an independent academic source.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

93%

Practice fit, 100How new, 100How solid, 75

Marked down slightly on how solid the method is, since the details behind the figure aren't fully shown, but the practice fit is exact and the data is current, so the overall relevance rating stays high.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Work out what one new client actually costs you, in time and money, before you spend another penny on adverts.
Put your cost-per-client figure somewhere you'll actually look at it, not in a spreadsheet you open once a year.
Brief your team on where enquiries come from, so nobody's guessing which channel is doing the work.
Say the number out loud in your next planning chat, even if it's an uncomfortable one.
Stop renewing anything just because it's always been renewed, and check what it's actually bringing in.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Track which channels actually bring paying clients, not just enquiries.
Therapy	Medium	Check whether a full caseload is masking an inefficient referral pipeline.
Training	Medium	Compare cost per sign-up across courses before repeating a campaign.
Alternative Healing	Low	Note the informal cost of time spent on word-of-mouth marketing.
Clinical	High	Calculate your own cost-per-patient figure this month and compare it against this benchmark.
Retreat/Centre	High	Review acquisition costs against your higher overheads before the next booking push.

Best before

Best before: revisit this when HMDG's Private Practice Barometer next updates, or sooner if you want to check the primary methodology yourself.

Something Brought You All The Way Down Here.

A good sign. We have an ecosystem, a visual river and a story garden that have been waiting for a practice like yours. Come and find out what we mean - the coffee's hot and the discovery call goes properly both ways.

Find your Sunlight ▶