The latest from Whetstone as they look to support healthcare professionals;
Complaints and claims against consultant surgeons, dentists and other clinicians are rising sharply, but Whetstone, a new clinician-first, employee-owned healthcare insurance broker, is aiming to change how medical professionals are supported when things go wrong.
“When a clinical negligence claim lands, clinicians feel it personally,” says Kevin Culliney, CEO of Whetstone. “They came into the profession to do good, so any suggestion of harm is hugely stressful. At that moment, they don’t want a debate about exclusions or policy wording – they want support, someone who understands medicine, and legal firepower if it’s needed. We represent the clinician, not a defence body and not an insurer’s balance sheet. That distinction really matters.”
Culliney spent two decades building one of the UK’s leading healthcare insurance practices within Lockton, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers. More recently, he led a management buy-out of part of the healthcare division to form Whetstone alongside a group of former colleagues. “Lockton was a fantastic incubator for this approach, but both sides recognised the advantages of scaling the business in a different structure,” he says.
Whetstone’s ambition is to become the insurance broker of choice for a broad range of healthcare professionals and providers – from doctors and dentists to private GP services, NHS outsource providers and private hospitals.
On the client’s side
Its differentiation lies not only in the sector focus of its 25-strong team, but in an embedded group of legally trained medical and dental professionals who can talk ‘clinician to clinician’ through complaints, investigations and claims.
Culliney explains that many brokers outsource claims support. Whetstone takes the opposite approach. “We deal with good people trying to do the right thing. When something goes wrong, it’s deeply personal. If you’ve caused a patient harm, that’s psychologically difficult, and you need an infrastructure that recognises that and helps you through it.”
The business has launched at a turbulent time for UK healthcare. Clinicians face a sharp increase in complaints, regulatory scrutiny and civil claims, driven by a more litigious public, rising patient expectations and the growing use of generative AI tools to draft complaints and legal correspondence.
“We’re definitely seeing ChatGPT being used,” Culliney notes. “A patient might be unhappy they’ve paid for private treatment, feed the details into an AI tool and produce a letter alleging poor advice or care. It may sound absurd, but it’s the reality clinicians are operating in.”
While there is no single body tracking private healthcare claims, Culliney estimates claims inflation at 8–10% annually. NHS data offers some context: formal complaints have almost doubled over the past decade, while clinical negligence payouts reached £2.9 billion in 2023–24.
Against this backdrop, Whetstone’s employee-owned model is central to its philosophy. “I don’t understand businesses that don’t give staff ownership,” says Culliney, adding: “When people have real skin in the game, client service improves. Our client retention rate is 95% – and the team is obsessed with making it higher – they want every client who starts with us to stay with us – for the right reasons. That flows through to how we deal with their claims and complaints, to the service we offer and even how we go out and sell to people.”
That client-first approach extends to policy design, with affirmative, non-ambiguous cover that clearly sets out what is and isn’t insured – increasingly important as digital tools and AI become embedded in clinical practice.
Independent and nimble, Whetstone believes it can adapt as fast as the market changes. “We can implement changes immediately,” Culliney says.
“Our aim isn’t to be just another intermediary, but a genuine alternative – one that gives clinicians clarity, support and confidence so they can focus on what matters most: caring for patients.”
For more information, visit https://whetstonegroup.co.uk/
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