The Hidden Cost of Vacancy: Why Speed in Healthcare Recruitment Matters
In healthcare, every unfilled position isn’t just a line item on a staffing report, it’s a direct hit to patient care, staff morale, and organisational performance. Yet many employers underestimate the true cost of vacancy, treating unfilled roles as temporary inconveniences rather than strategic liabilities.
The reality? Vacancy costs compound quickly and quietly. Understanding and calculating the real return on investment (ROI) of timely hiring is key to building the business case for smarter, faster recruitment.
Let’s explore what vacancy truly costs, how to quantify it, and how recruiters and HR leaders can turn this insight into action.
What Is the “Cost of Vacancy”?
The Cost of Vacancy (COV) refers to the financial and operational impact of leaving a position unfilled over time. This cost goes far beyond lost productivity—it also includes:
Lost revenue (particularly for billable roles)
Overtime or temporary staffing expenses
Burnout and disengagement among existing staff
Declines in patient experience or safety
Delays in care or service delivery
When hiring is delayed, these costs accumulate (often invisibly) until they begin to affect quality of care, team morale, and overall retention.
Why It Matters in Healthcare
In healthcare, where every role, from clinical to administrative, supports critical outcomes, vacancies can have real-world consequences.
For example:
A vacant nursing post increases patient ratios, adding pressure on existing staff and raising the risk of clinical errors.
An unfilled physiotherapy role may delay rehabilitation, extending patient recovery times.
A missing scheduler or administrator can cause cascading delays in appointments, insurance processing, and documentation.
In short: every delay has a downstream impact on both people and performance.
How to Calculate the Cost of Vacancy
While the exact cost will vary by role, setting a baseline calculation can help leaders better understand the urgency of filling key positions. Here’s a simplified approach:
Basic Formula
Annual salary ÷ 260 (workdays per year) = Daily vacancy cost
Then:
Daily vacancy cost × number of vacant days = Total COV
Example
A role with an annual salary of £40,000:
£40,000 ÷ 260 = £153.85 per day
£153.85 × 60 days vacant = £9,231 COV
For Revenue-Generating Roles (e.g. Consultants, Surgeons, Anaesthetists): The Cost Can Be Staggering
While a salary-based vacancy cost gives a baseline, the real financial impact in revenue-generating roles is much greater. In these positions, lost income from procedures, clinics, or diagnostics must also be factored in.
Formula:
(Average daily revenue generated by the role × number of days vacant) + additional staffing costs
Hidden or Indirect Vacancy Costs
In many cases, the true cost of vacancy far exceeds the basic formula. Consider:
Overtime pay for current staff covering the gap
Agency or locum fees (often significantly higher than standard salaries)
Decreased team morale, leading to absenteeism or even resignation
Delays in service delivery that could impact contracts, patient satisfaction, or clinical outcomes
In close-knit clinical teams, one vacancy can trigger a ripple effect of attrition which is costly and difficult to reverse.
How to Use This Data to Drive Action
Build business cases for proactive recruitment:
Quantifying COV gives recruitment and HR teams tangible evidence to justify investments in faster hiring, streamlined processes, or new sourcing tools.
Prioritise roles based on impact:
Not all vacancies carry equal weight. Use COV data to identify high-impact roles and allocate recruitment efforts accordingly.
Partner with hiring managers using shared metrics:
When department heads understand the financial and operational costs of delays, they’re more likely to support timely interviews, feedback, and offers.
Real ROI: Faster Hiring Is Smart Business
Investing in reduced time-to-fill doesn’t just close staffing gaps, it protects revenue, prevents burnout, and safeguards quality of care.
Consider the return on investment from:
A well-implemented applicant tracking system (ATS)
A trusted, dedicated recruitment partner
Streamlined interview and approval processes
Proactive pipelines for hard-to-fill or high-churn roles
Even a 10–15 day improvement in hiring speed can mean thousands of pounds saved per vacancy and a major boost in patient care continuity.
Final Thoughts
Vacancies cost far more than they appear on the surface. By treating the Cost of Vacancy as a measurable, trackable KPI, healthcare leaders can transform recruitment from a reactive function into a strategic advantage.
In recruitment, speed isn’t just efficiency—it’s ROI. The faster you close the gap, the stronger your organisation stands.
At Fertility Talent, we help healthcare organisations minimise downtime and maximise ROI by headhunting the right professionals. Connect with us on LinkedIn or simply call us on 01904 230002.