If you run a busy clinic, you've felt the "hiring itch." The phones are ringing off the hook, your current receptionist is visibly stressed, and you know - deep down - that you're losing patients because the line is constantly busy. The traditional solution is to put an ad on Indeed, interview ten people, and hire a new body for the front desk. But in 2026, the math on that decision has changed. Let's look at the actual numbers.
The True Cost of a New Hire
Hiring a receptionist in the UK isn't just about the hourly wage. When you factor in the "hidden" costs, the numbers get heavy:
Salary: £22,000 – £26,000 (Base).
National Insurance & Pension: Add roughly 13–15%.
Recruitment & Training: It takes about 4 weeks for a new hire to truly understand your PMS (Dentally, SOE, etc.) and your clinic's specific tone. That's a month of salary paid with zero ROI.
The "Human Limit": A person can only handle one call at a time. If three people call at 10 AM, two of them are still hitting a busy tone.
Total Estimated Annual Cost: £28,000 - £32,000.
The Clero AI Alternative
Clero isn't a "replacement" for your best people; it's the safety net that makes them more effective. Here's how the digital side of the ledger looks:
Cost: Starting at £20/mo (Overflow) to £1,200/mo (Enterprise). Even at the highest tier, you are paying a fraction of a human salary.
Capacity: Unlimited. Clero can handle 50 calls simultaneously. No one ever hears a busy tone.
Availability: 24/7. It doesn't take sick days, doesn't need a lunch break, and is just as polite at 3 AM as it is at 9 AM.
Training: Instant. Because it integrates directly via API, it already "knows" your calendar availability.
The Side-by-Side Comparison
Human Receptionist vs. Clero AI Voice Agent:
Availability: 40 hours/week vs. 168 hours/week (24/7)
Simultaneous Calls: 1 vs. Unlimited
Training Time: 2–4 Weeks vs. 24 Hours
Monthly Cost: ~£2,400+ vs. From £20 - £1,200
Sick/Holiday Pay: Yes vs. No
Data Accuracy: Subject to human error vs. 100% Structured Data
The "Hidden" Revenue: What are you losing?
The biggest cost isn't what you pay your staff—it's what you lose when they can't pick up.
If your clinic misses just two new patient inquiries a week due to busy lines, and each patient is worth an average of £500 (a conservative estimate for private dentistry or GP consultations), you are losing £4,000 a month. That's £48,000 a year in "ghost" revenue that simply vanished because of a busy tone.
The Verdict
If you need someone to manage the physical flow of the waiting room and offer a warm smile to patients walking in, you need a human. AI can't hand a patient a glass of water or help them with their coat.
But if you are hiring because your phone lines are unmanageable, you are solving a 2026 problem with a 1990s solution.
Clero handles the "noise"—the repetitive FAQs, the stock checks, the simple bookings—so your human team can focus on the "high-value" work: the patients actually standing in front of them.