Key-person absence in small clinics
How allied health and dental practices in Dunedin can prepare when a clinical lead or practice manager is suddenly unavailable.
In a five-to-fifteen person clinic, continuity risk often concentrates in two roles: the clinician with the densest caseload, and the practice manager who alone knows the roster software, landlord contacts, and ACC paperwork quirks.
Start by naming deputies in writing — not as a promotion promise, but as a temporary authority to cancel appointments, unlock the drug cupboard procedures you already approve, and speak with the landlord. Then list the three phone numbers that person must have without unlocking someone else’s phone: IT support for practice systems, the accountant, and the locum agency if you use one.
A short Operational Risk Workshop with reception, clinicians, and the manager usually surfaces “invisible” dependencies: a booking template stored only on one laptop, or a fridge temperature log that nobody else has completed. Those discoveries cost less than a week of cancelled clinics.