Scottish dental group enters English market
Deal with hospital breaks new ground.
A cross-border partnership between a Scottish independent dental group and a hospital in Hertfordshire could herald a new future in dentistry.
Infinityblu Dental Care and Implant Clinic was founded in Perthshire in 2007 by Chris Barrowman and has grown to become a 12-practice enterprise in Scotland through acquisitions and multi-million pound investment.
However, in a move away from the traditional sector growth journey, the group has now secured a pioneering deal with 5-Star full-service hospital in England to provide dentistry in a healthcare setting.
OSD Healthcare operates a state-of-the-art private hospital 27 miles from London. At its high-tech facility, it provides all aspects of patient care from knee and hip replacements to reconstructive surgery and cardiology.
The deal sees Mr Barrowman, one of Scotland’s leading dental implant providers, offering OSD Healthcare patients full-mouth and other implant options at its hospital in Hemel Hempstead. Both partners will collaborate on co-branding and marketing, informed by Infinityblu’s own 18-year growth journey north of the border.
Uniquely, the partnership will also enable Scottish patients to have implant work undertaken under General Anesthetic in England, through the hospital’s on-site anesthetic experts and suites. The development represents a first for both partners, with patients having the opportunity to have a complete set of teeth implanted in one day, whilst asleep.
The deal came about through a desire by OSD Healthcare, which provides all aspects of private healthcare inone hub, to further develop its dentistry provision. Acknowledging synergies in approach, Infinityblu welcomed an opportunity to expand its services to its first English staging post, a 20-minute taxi ride from Luton Airport.
Mr Barrowman believes holistic partnerships such as these, between dental and healthcare providers, offer a glimpse of the future because of the benefits it offers all parties and patients.
“This is very exciting,” he said. “OSD Healthcare’s patient care ethos and values closely align with ours and, with the way the dental environment is, we are looking at new ways of providing what we can offer, away from the traditional model.
“These types of long-term partnerships are sustainable because you are growing together. There is no reason why this couldn’t be done in other hospitals or healthcare settings.
“Yes, there are providers who might bring in consultants to do specific treatments, but this is a partnership where we are co-branding together. That is the unique element of this partnership. We are dualling operations, protocols and the patient journey. Our marketing teams are working together but we are also sharing what we’ve learned, on a consultancy basis.”
Infinityblu currently has practices in Pitlochry, Dunkeld, Crieff, Alyth, Auchterarder, Killin, Callander, Duns, Auchtermuchty, Eyemouth, Peebles and Galashiels. The new partnership sees them moving into wider UK markets.
“It is an opportunity for us to get our brand outside of Scotland,” said Chris Barrowman. “But it is also an opportunity for us to give back what we have learned and to do that in a medical setting. Walking in there, it already feels like another Infinityblu practice, which is great.”