When should I leave the NHS: Reflections for psychologists and therapists thinking about taking the plunge into independent practiceToday I am not writing about strategy, it's not about a process, it's not about tips. That's because I really can't give you any when it comes to this question. Today we're talking about something really personal, we're talking about the decision that many of us grapple with, here in the UK, about when to leave the NHS. For our international readers, the NHS is the institution that provides free health care at the point of need, something that most of us are really committed to and very fully believe in, in the mental health space. However, the NHS is not an easy employer. There have been a lot of difficulties over the past decade, and probably before that, in providing the kind of mental health services that we want people to recieve. So this blog will be relevant for anybody considering leaving employment, considering reducing their hours, or who just feels a bit paralysed by that question. 
I'm not going to give you a tick sheet, or a process that you can follow to help you make that choice. Of course I can't do that. But what I am going to do is share some of my personal experiences. I'll share the reasoning behind my decision to leave the NHS. And then I'm also going to share with you the wisdom of 47 other psychologists who answered this question for me, in one of our private practice groups, which is called UK Psychologists in Private Practice (UK3P), if you're not in it, you should be in it. It's a brilliant group.  I asked in there how people knew it was the right time to leave the NHS because I know this is something that so many of us struggle with. So many people that are considering jumping into https://psychologybusinessschool.com/ (Psychology Business School), or joining the https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-do-more-than-therapy-membership/ (Do More Than Therapy Membership) talk to me about this dilemma. So I thought I'd really like to create a podcast, which doesn't give you the answers, but lets you in on the reasoning of people who have made that decision so that it can maybe help you to feel a little bit more supported, a little bit less alone with that big decision that you're grappling with. 
 
Why did I start thinking about my decision to leave the NHS and start an independent practice 4 years ago?But before we get started, I also want to share with you some more personal stuff from me, that actually prompted me to start thinking about this. So those of you who have eagle eyes, or who are involved in https://psychologybusinessschool.com/ (Psychology Business School,) or the https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-do-more-than-therapy-membership/ (Do More Than Therapy Membership), might have noticed that my camera has been moving slowly further up, so you can see less and less of my body recently in social media videos, or in zoom trainings that I do in https://psychologybusinessschool.com/ (Psychology Business School). And the reason for that is that I am expecting my third child. I'm very pleased to announce that I'm currently 22 weeks and feeling OK. And as it's my third child, I do have quite a sizable baby bump. I never find pregnancy very easy. And that's a whole topic for another podcast that I certainly will be making, and might even be writing a book on, but I have not felt well and there's been real challenges, but I'm now feeling pretty good and I want to use this time to help other people that might be in a position of going through a big life transition and wondering what on earth that means for their career. 
 
The story of why I left the NHS to start an independent psychology practice

My story is all about my family, and it's all about my children. My daughter had just started at nursery, I'd gone back into a locum role in an NHS team. We're a military family, so I already knew that I couldn't go back into a role...