In this week’s episode of Confidence to Thrive, Christopher Cloke-Browne, director at Owlicity, speaks to Dr. Indra, NHS GP turned private functional medicine practitioner and president of the British College of Functional Medicine about her journey building a functional medicine clinic. 

Dr. Indra describes becoming dissatisfied with NHS limitations, burnout, and discovering the Institute of Functional Medicine, leading her to build a patient-first practice under her own name. 

They discuss the heavy regulatory and operational burden of launching a regulated clinic, the time-intensive nature of functional medicine consultations and evidence-informed decision-making, and challenges around patient expectations, practitioner training, safety, and insurance. 

Dr. Indra explains developing a collaborative multidisciplinary team - nutrition therapy, coaching, pharmacy, psychotherapy, and consultants - organised around integrative health specialists who support patients throughout their journey. They also discuss the major opportunity in collating outcomes data, offering patient choice alongside conventional medicine, and addressing rising chronic disease with a health-span focus.

Episode time stamps

• 00:57 Dr Indra’s journey
• 03:31 Discovering functional medicine
• 06:42 Evidence and patient outcomes
• 09:02 Launching a regulated functional medicine clinic
• 12:37 The functional medicine patient process
• 15:04 Challenges facing functional medicine
• 18:24 Building an integrative team
• 25:41 Coaching and patient ownership
• 31:43 The opportunities ahead

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

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Functional Medicine and Prescribing: Regulation, Roles and Risk in Multidisciplinary Practices

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity directors Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston discuss how functional medicine practices can fall into regulatory and negligence risk around “prescribing” and diagnosis. 

As supplements become increasingly specialised in the area of functional medicine, they may still be regulated as food supplements, but a doctor’s recommendation can be treated by the GMC as a prescription and judged against medical standards even without a written script. 

The discussion also covers risks when non-clinicians - particularly nutritionists - interpret results or suggest conditions like diabetes outside a clinical hierarchy, and the accountability of doctor-led practices for team actions. 

They highlight patient expectations, commercial pressures, and the need for robust policies, procedures, documentation, and roles such as health coaches/patient advocates to guide patients and support compliance and defensibility.

Episode time stamps

00:43 Prescribing challenges

02:47 Supplements become prescriptions

05:58 The shift in team roles and diagnosis

08:35 Complaints and commercial reality

10:15 Introducing the patient advocate model

14:02 Regulations vs practice

16:50 The value of audits and procedures

20:02 Scaling a compliant business

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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In the fourth part of this four part series, Adrian Richards, medical director at iQonic Aesthetics returns to the Confidence to Thrive podcast to discuss with Owlicity directors, Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston, how AI is already reshaping healthcare businesses and why practitioners must adopt it or risk falling behind. 

He describes examples of “lights off” businesses run by bots and teams augmented with AI to increase output, while arguing that healthcare still needs humans for empathy and patient-facing work. At Iconic, AI is used for tasks like visual simulations and recording and analysing meetings to extract priorities, themes and team insights, alongside automating functions such as marketing, website and HR. 

The group also highlights risks: AI can hallucinate, lacks conscience and grounding, and must be used carefully with strong “defence.” They connect this to changing work patterns and ADHD, concluding AI should handle repetitive tasks while humans focus on human work.

Episode time stamps

00:00 AI in Healthcare Intro

03:03 Lights Off Bot Workforce

04:38 Humans vs Automation

05:54 How Iconic Uses AI

07:12 Call Centre Bots Replace Teams

11:02 Work Culture and Human Value

12:20 ADHD and Modern Work

13:48 AI Hallucinations and Trust

14:42 AI Needs Defense

14:47 Hallucinations and Trust

15:21 Deploying AI Responsibly

16:02 Grounding and Learning

17:19 ADHD and Human Strengths

18:01 Spotify Story Lesson

20:28 AI Plus Humans at Work

21:31 Insurance Partnership Advice

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

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Episode 23 - Product liability and managing legacy risks in private healthcare with Adrian Richards, Medical Director at iQonic Aesthetics

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston, directors at Owlicity, talk to Adrian Richards, medical director at iQonic Aesthetics about the blurred line between product liability and surgeon responsibility when medical devices and implants fail, noting that patients typically hold the surgeon accountable regardless of where fault lies. 
 
They explore examples including hip replacements with manufacturing faults and surgeons mixing components, and a breast implant case involving textured implants later linked to the rare lymphoma ALCL, with current UK guidance favouring monitoring and treatment typically being implant removal. 
 
Their discussion covers reporting requirements, manufacturer compensation schemes that patients may struggle to navigate, and the practical need for surgeons to help patients through processes to reduce anxiety, protect reputation, and avoid escalation amplified by social media.

This is the part 3 of a multi-part series with Adrian Richards. We recommend listening to Parts 1 and 2 - Episodes 21 and 22 - before listening to this episode.

Episode time stamps

• 00:35 The product liability grey zone 
• 01:41 Hip implant legal action
• 03:44 Textured implants and ALCL
• 05:16 Compensation and patient support
• 07:20 Legacy risks for healthcare practitioners
• 08:13 Handling social media reputation fallout
• 09:46 The importance of a response plan
• 10:30 Why rapid team decision-making is key
• 10:56 The value of expert advice
• 12:01 Why it’s a surgeon’s responsibility first
• 12:49 The reality of the NHS safety net
• 13:36 Tracking implants and data
• 14:06 Helping patients navigate the claims process
• 14:39 Risk management and the value of good note-taking
• 15:30 The moral duty to patients
• 16:48 Reputation and making amends
• 17:46 What insurance really does

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

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Selling a Healthcare Business: Due Diligence, EBITDA Multiples and Managing Legacy Risk

In part 2 of our wide-ranging discussion with Adrian Richards, Medical Director at iQonic Aesthetics and one of the pioneers of private medical practice, we discuss how to sell a healthcare practice or business. 

Adrian has both sold and bought multiple healthcare businesses and draws on his experience selling Aurora Surgical Business Group Practice to The Private Clinic in 2016 and later helping acquire other clinics. 

He describes sales as stressful, negotiation-heavy processes where deals can fail at due diligence, with buyers scrutinising finances, records and every risk “under the floorboards.” 

The conversation highlights how private equity researches sectors deeply, prices uncertainty as risk, and uses that to discount EBITDA multiples. 

Adrian and the hosts stress building a strong, compliant business with robust systems that can operate beyond the founder, and keeping “data room ready” documentation, including logs and reporting of clinical issues, complaints and potential liabilities. 

They emphasise consent, complaint-handling, insurability limits, privacy/security exposures, and managing legacy risks that can reduce value by millions.

Episode timestamps

• 01:21 Lessons from selling Aurora 
• 01:58 The reality of due diligence
• 02:39 Understanding how Private Equity thinks
• 03:41 Why you need to build value and reduce risk 
• 05:11 The importance of reporting and risk logs
• 07:14 Pricing the risks
• 07:46 EBITDA multiples explained
• 09:32 Make a healthcare business sellable without you
• 10:15 Life after the exit
• 10:40 Acquisitions in the UK sector
• 11:15 The entrepreneur mindset and insurance
• 12:44 Due diligence deal killers
• 13:15 Handling complaints in the right way
• 14:01 Legacy liability planning
• 14:49 Data room ready systems
• 15:15 How underwriters price risk
• 17:37 Exit strategy advice
• 19:16 Process notes defensibility
• 20:31 The benefit of keeping claims low

Follow Adrian and iQonic Aesthetics

iQonic profile - https://www.iqonicaesthetics.com/doctors/mr-adrian-richards

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-richards-50638411

Real Self - https://www.realself.com/dr/adrian-richards-london-united-kingdom

iQonic website - https://www.iqonicaesthetics.com

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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Episode 21 - From plastic surgery to pioneering private practice (part 1) with Adrian Richards, medical director at iQonic Aesthetics

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston, directors at Owlicity speak with Adrian Richards, a highly respected plastic and cosmetic surgeon and medical director at iQonic Aesthetics.

Adrian shares his career path from UK plastic surgery training and NHS consultant work to pioneering private practice and building multiple businesses across training, non-surgical aesthetics and surgery. 

He explains how his exposure to international practice highlighted gaps in UK training for treatments like botulinum toxin and fillers, leading to the creation of Cosmetic Courses and broader work with regulation and standards. 

Adrian describes launching the Aurora group practice, merging with The Private Clinic in 2016, and later helping establish iQonic, a surgeon-led clinic focused on quality, handpicked teams and advanced breast surgery. 

The discussion highlights the business learning curve for clinicians, the importance of structure and team-building, and key risk issues for growth and saleability, including insurance, documentation, informed consent, and being “data room ready” for due diligence.

Episode timestamps

• 01:29 Adrian’s career origins and training
• 03:40 The importance of artistry in plastic surgery
• 04:49 Leaving NHS and teaching aesthetics
• 06:43 Growing Aurora clinic and early lessons
• 08:38 Launching iQonic and attracting top surgeons
• 11:06 Business growth advice and due diligence
• 13:49 Building the Dream Team
• 17:21 NHS vs private and risk management

Follow Adrian and iQonic Aesthetics

iQonic profile - https://www.iqonicaesthetics.com/doctors/mr-adrian-richards

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-richards-50638411

Real Self - https://www.realself.com/dr/adrian-richards-london-united-kingdom

iQonic website - https://www.iqonicaesthetics.com

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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Do You Need CQC Registration? Guidance for Functional and Private Practice Clinicians

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity director Christopher Cloke-Brown speaks with Dionne Simons, head of operations at Designated Medical, on the question of when functional medicine practitioners need CQC registration and why the issue goes beyond whether you prescribe. 

Dionne explains that many “exemptions” only apply when you are clearly working under another provider’s CQC registration with defined practising privileges, governance, and contractual terms, and that simply renting a room in a CQC-registered clinic does not usually provide cover, including for digital consultations. 

She warns that assessing, diagnosing, monitoring, interpreting tests, or creating personalised protocols for disease and disorder (e.g., Lyme disease, autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, hormone disorders, cancer) can constitute regulated activity. 

The discussion covers current CQC application timelines, common form rejections, interview expectations, the need for governance documents upfront, and enforcement risks including closure, prosecution, fines, reputational damage, and possible GMC notification.

Episode time stamps

• 01:29 Introducing Dionne Simons
• 03:13 Why CQC guidance feels grey
• 04:12 Exemptions explained
• 06:22 The potential pitfall of virtual care
• 06:57 Why prescribing is not the test
• 09:35 Lifestyle vs treating disease
• 12:36 The CQC process and timelines
• 14:21 What to expect during application and interview process
• 16:56 The value of investing in ongoing compliance
• 17:42 The cost of enforcement and risk to reputation
• 23:18 The reality of the NHS to private practice shift

Follow Dionne Simons and Designated Medical

Dionne Simons - https://designatedmedical.com/team/dionne-simons

Designated Medical - https://designatedmedical.com

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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Navigating the NHS-Private interface - how to avoid complaints and consent issues when growing a functional medicine healthcare business 

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity directors Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston discuss a case involving a functional medicine GP facing an NHS England complaint after suggesting an NHS patient see the same doctor privately due to waiting times.

The complaint raised focused on concerns about breaching GP contractual rules and potential allegations of treatment for financial gain if escalated to the GMC. 

During the discussion, Christopher and Roger explain how NHS contracts restrict offering private services that could be provided under the NHS, and that referring “practice patients” internally into a colleague’s private service is generally a no-go. 

They also discuss similar risks in selling supplements and in NHS dentistry, including complaints from overseas clinicians unfamiliar with what the NHS covers and billing expectations. 

Christopher and Roger detail practical advice focusing on avoiding blurred NHS/private boundaries, using clear options-and-pricing “menu” style informed consent, and setting expectations about costs, diagnostic work, and uncertain outcomes.

Episode time stamps

• 00:56 Overview of the NHS England complaint 
• 03:49 What happened in practice
• 04:32 Understanding NHS contract referral rules
• 07:18 GMC risk and profit motive
• 07:50 A supplements case  
• 09:31 The dentistry NHS-to-private challenge
• 12:39 Informed consent and offering a pricing menu
• 15:30 Keep NHS and private separate
• 20:39 Changing patient cohorts and costs
• 24:12 Functional medicine depth and testing
• 28:26 Challenging health misinformation

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

LinkedIn

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YouTube

Functional medicine marketing - regulation, claims and managing patient expectations

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Owlicity directors Christopher Cloke Browne and Roger Houston discuss the regulatory and practical risks of marketing and promoting a functional medicine practice. 

They explain the high duty on clinicians under GMC-style guidance, the need to avoid “miracle cure” messaging, and the importance of clear informed consent that sets realistic expectations, declares the non-mainstream nature of functional medicine, and evidences any claims. 

Much of the complaints work they see is driven by miscommunication about private costs - especially extensive testing that patients assume is available free on the NHS - so they recommend documenting a clear plan alongside a cost schedule and contingency for further investigations. 

They also caution against over-reliance on testimonials and case studies, emphasising careful patient screening and promoting the process rather than guaranteed outcomes.

Episode time stamps

• 00:51 Regulating and marketing guidelines
• 03:37 Promises and handling disputes
• 04:13 Explaining the costs of testing 
• 08:56 The cultural difference between NHS and private
• 10:43 How the media hype expectations
• 13:32 Filtering the right patients
• 15:22 Safe marketing examples
• 17:51 Testimonials without cure
• 21:13 Science and titles divide
• 24:45 Cost schedules and refunds
• 27:14 Successful practice playbook

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

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Regenerative aesthetics, longevity and healing - an interview with Dr Angela Musso, The Healing Place Global

In this episode of Confidence to Thrive, Christopher Cloke Browne, director at Owlicity speaks with Dr Angela Musso who shares her journey from 25 years as an GP, working in prisons and with police as a sexual offence examiner, and spending time in New Zealand and Australia - to running a boutique regenerative medicine clinic focused on regenerative aesthetics and longevity. 

She explains why she returned to the UK due to concerns about healthcare access and integrity, and describes whistleblowing, legal battles, chronic stress and burnout shaping her focus on root-cause medicine. 

Dr Musso discusses moving away from Botox and fillers toward regenerative approaches using patients’ own plasma, and emphasises gut health, trauma, chronic stress and mind-body practices such as meditation. 

She highlights challenges in mainstream acceptance, growing awareness and collaborating with other trusted practitioners.

Episode time stamps

• 00:49 Dr Musso’s GP journey 
• 01:05 Lessons in skin health
• 03:04 Integrity and whistleblowing
• 03:58 Burnout to root causes
• 05:15 Mission for longevity
• 07:34 The shift to regenerative aesthetics
• 08:04 The trauma gut link
• 09:41 Dealing with mainstream skepticism
• 12:56 Breaking generational cycles of trauma
• 13:37 Getting the word out
• 16:59 Meditation and self healing

Follow Dr Angela Musso

The Healing Place Global - https://thehealingplaceuk.com

LinkedIn - Dr Angela Musso - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drangelamusso

Instagram - The Healing Place - https://www.instagram.com/_the.healing.place_/

Who are Owlicity?

This podcast was brought to you by Owlicity Insurance Advisors who support your business ambitions.  Owlicity advises practitioners, owners, and entrepreneurs of healthcare practises on mitigating risks so your business can thrive. 

Learn more about how Owlicity can support here: Owlicity.co.uk 

Call us on 0203 988 8090

Follow us on social media

LinkedIn

Instagram

YouTube