How to Start a Healthcare Recruitment Agency

In fact, you could extend this exciting prospect internationally. Professional services network Deloitte reports that “The global health care sector is undergoing a period of unprecedented transformation.” This will inevitably lead to extensive staffing requirements in both the public and private sectors.

However, the fact that under-pressure healthcare employers also demand a diverse workforce – with a range of often specialist skills in short supply – creates both opportunities and challenges for anyone with ambitions to start a recruitment agency in this field.

Can anyone start a healthcare staffing agency?

One of the advantages of starting a nursing agency is that you don’t necessarily need a background in either health or social care to succeed. The essential requirement is to build your knowledge, recruitment technology, contacts and talent pool so that you can match the current and future needs of healthcare employers. This requires research, planning and strategising.  

A well-conceived business plan for a healthcare recruitment agency must include the initial investment needed, the running costs and the likely returns in year one. It’s a wide-open market, but it may take time to get substantial financial rewards, so start-up cost awareness is crucial.

Do I need any specific qualifications?

Starting a care recruitment agency, and particularly one focused specifically on health service providers, will require less initial ‘legwork’ if you have a relevant qualification. For example, a nursing degree – or similar healthcare-related degree – equips you with industry insights and language you can use. 

If you have credentials such as a Certified Staffing Professional (CSP) or Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), this can reassure clients that you have knowledge and expertise in employment services.

However, potentially your biggest asset when starting a healthcare staffing agency in the UK is a background and qualifications in business management, or entrepreneurial experience. This provides a solid platform to create a viable health recruitment model, and an understanding of good business practice for recruitment agencies.

How do I start a care recruitment agency in the UK?

Having a business name, relevant experience and contacts, and a drive to succeed will only get you so far. Let’s explore the key steps in starting a healthcare recruitment agency.

1. Consider your niche

You must have a clear vision and goals, based on a specific recruitment agency model. Being all things to all people makes it hard to build sufficient knowledge and focus. For instance, when launching a general healthcare recruitment agency, you must have a firm grasp of all the professional and service staff required by health-related employers. 

You may be looking into how to start a nursing agency. If so, you will concentrate on the biggest and fastest-growing role in healthcare. However, you still need to pin down nursing specialties in high demand, and the difference between social care nursing staff, and domiciliary care personnel, for example.

2. Build your business plan

What is needed within a business plan for a healthcare recruitment agency? Just as when  launching any recruitment venture, you’ll need financial projections, an overview of your marketplace, threats and opportunities, a profile on your competitors, and a clear concept of the methods you’ll use to start, grow, control and develop your venture. 

3. Organise legal arrangements and insurance

Starting any type of business in the UK demands a sharp focus on legal frameworks for your sector, as well as general workplace legislation such as GDPR, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the Equality Act 2010. Also, look at specific healthcare regulations, such as safeguarding rules.

Protecting your business assets, operations and financial future can also depend on getting good advice on the insurance cover best suited to healthcare recruitment agencies. This will certainly need to include professional indemnity too.

Creating your agency as a limited company (rather than a partnership) could create an important layer of liability protection. This is something that a financial advisor can guide you on.

4. Register your healthcare agency

New start-up businesses of all types must register at Companies House and with HMRC. Check if you will meet the turnover threshold requirements for VAT registration.

Registering your recruitment agency with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) isn’t always mandatory, depending on the niche you have chosen. However, even if you are not starting a care recruitment agency, it’s a good idea. It adds credibility and prepares the ground for any future contracts placing staff in care-related posts, with the quality and safety measures that this demands.

5. Find your funding

Knowing how to start a healthcare recruitment agency in the UK is vital, but so is ensuring that  you have sufficient capital from day one. There must be the investment to match start-up costs, and also running costs until your cash flow becomes healthy. Existing business cash, a bank loan or even crowdfunding options could be supplemented by local or central government grants and loans or help from a third-party ‘business angel’. Your business plan is the key to getting all categories of funders to back your recruitment agency.

6. Recruit your clients 

Once your business plan and brand are in place, the work can start on attracting employers to engage with your healthcare recruitment agency. Building your client base may depend on you making personal approaches. However, you will also need to have a robust and compelling digital marketing plan. Use all the marketing methods available to build clients for your recruitment agency.

7. Recruit your candidates

Establishing client relationships runs in tandem with building a talent pool for your recruitment agency. The best software for recruiters is configured to automatically connect with the type and calibre of candidate you need to create a candidate pool, and will also save time with AI-driven screening and communication processes.

You must also have a system in place to verify the registration status of healthcare staff – and Right to Work in the UK ID – before they progress to interview.

8. Focus on growing your business

When starting a healthcare recruitment agency, you should already have growth and development woven into your initial business plan. A measured response to building your client and candidate cohorts ensures that you keep your service quality and outcomes high. Also, being ready to be versatile and to adjust your business model as new opportunities and avenues open up is commercial common sense.

Familiarise yourself with the best ways to achieve recruitment agency growth before you even go live with your venture.

Things you'll need to get started with a healthcare recruitment agency

When considering how to start a healthcare recruitment agency UK employers will engage with, your brand and marketing strategy are important. There are also business fundamentals needed for establishing and then growing a healthcare recruitment agency, especially if you want to achieve a competitive edge from day one. Central to this is an ATS/CRM system that streamlines and controls healthcare recruitment operations, managing your time, money and business relationships. Other things you need include:

• A website that positions and promotes your agency effectively.
• A payroll system and software.
• The insurance required for running recruitment agencies, including workers’ compensation and PL insurance.
• Suitable premises, or remote working systems and protocols.
• Your own recruitment, onboarding and employee policies and procedures, and an employee handbook.
• Candidate onboarding systems, including any specific to healthcare roles, such as DBS checking and credentialing.
• An agency staff incentive, reward and recognition scheme, alongside time management systems.
• Key performance indicators to ensure profitable growth and efficient performance.

Potential risks of starting a healthcare staffing agency

The potential returns from starting a recruitment agency in healthcare are considerable, but they don’t come without risks!

One of the most significant potential obstacles to success is remaining compliant with the ever-updating legislation in this sector, as well as making sure that your candidates match the often specialist requirements of providers. One slip-up doesn’t just mean a lost client or a ‘wrist slap’ from regulators – you risk losing trust, something that your agency’s reputation depends on.

You are also going to face competition from established healthcare recruiters, some of which are already using the latest AI techniques for efficient employment processes. That’s why you need a clear competitive edge from day one, including the latest recruitment software designed to manage your costs, timescales and outcomes. This software must have the ability to constantly reinforce and expand your talent pool as a recruitment agency.

Having a solid business plan will help mitigate many of the risks, including the potential to be strangled by cash flow issues in the crucial first months.

Partner with Vincere for the best-organised start to your healthcare journey

Without doubt, building a recruitment agency from the ground up requires partnerships with experts in this field who are willing to invest their time in ensuring that your venture is a success. This is where Vincere excels, as our industry-leading ATS/CRM system provides top calibre support for building and managing your agency, with both performance and profitability fully optimised.

To see for yourself how valuable our personalised software is for new and developing recruitment agencies, contact us to arrange a recruitment software demo.