Beyond Harley Street: Inside Dr Adam Friedmann’s journey to bring world-class dermatological care to the UK
- emily4478
- Oct 23
- 12 min read
An interview with Dr Adam Friedmann
In this interview with The Industry Leaders, Dr Friedmann shares his journey of building ProDerm UK from a single Harley Street practice into a growing network of clinics across the UK. He discusses how his mission to make cutting-edge dermatological treatments more accessible has shaped ProDerm’s growth and how the company continues to innovate as the field of dermatology evolves.
As an award-winning consultant, with over 25 years of experience on Harley Street, what would you say is the biggest change you've seen?
There are several changes to consider. The biggest medical changes are the arrival of incredible new biological drugs that have furthered the treatment of skin disease, psoriasis, eczema, and skin cancer, in particular. These conditions can be cleared completely with the new modern therapies.
Technological changes are huge now with AI playing a role in mole mapping and helping monitor for skin cancer with early detection and prevention. Hopefully this will manifest as many more lives saved.
Socio economic changes are also huge. With the national health service under such enormous pressure, appointments are much harder to come by than they were 20 years ago and as such we are seeing an influx of patients who are not prepared to wait for months to be seen through the national health service. The advantage of private medicine is that you should be seen rapidly, and certainly I offer same day consultations and treatments in my own practice.
How has the technology developed throughout your years of practice?
Amazingly, when I qualified in medicine in 1997, the internet was a new thing, but now it is the key technology that we employ in running a successful private medical clinic.
Having an interactive up-to-date and simplistic website is ideal for patients to find what they require and book online.
The power of the reach of the internet search engine means that marketing and advertising has switched from old technologies such as printed press to digital marketing, which is highly successful. Social media plays a huge role in building a brand and also marketing.
For patient records everything is now online and secure in cyber-safe encrypted cloud servers. All of the records are electronic and the patient letters summarising their consultation are created immediately using AI.
You’ve built a practice in one of the most competitive medical districts globally. What have been the key leadership decisions or principles behind that success?
I think in any business the end product is by far the most critical aspect of that business. For a dermatology clinic, that means that you should be seeing the top level of expert, and that manifests as a consultant dermatologist with decades of experience treating diseases affecting the skin, hair and nails exclusively. In ensuring the highest level of expertise, the best possible outcomes are always achievable for clients.
The next most important aspect is investing in the staff that run the business as the admin team and managers are where the interface with patients happens. It is these people who make the first impression of the business and these people who communicate with patients on a daily basis. It is essential that they understand the business and are excellent in their roles as communicators and administrators.
How have patient expectations evolved, and how have you adapted the business model in response?
Patients' expectations have evolved over time and the main requirement they have from seeing an expert, is that the person they see is indeed an expert. In dermatology this means that they are a consultant dermatologist, someone with 10 to 15 years of training and decades of experience exclusively diagnosing and treating diseases of the skin, hair and nails.
Our business trades on the fact that the doctors are trained to the highest level and it’s essential patients are able to see this as there are many “skin experts“ who have little or no training in the field.
In the modern day, patients expect to be seen quickly, treated swiftly and have results in a timely fashion. I’ve adapted the business to accommodate same day consultations, even on weekends via video calls, with capacity always available to treat people on the same day, for urgent issues, e.g. skin cancer.
Patients want results swiftly and in a usable fashion so clinic letters are created immediately using AI and are available for a patient to view on their record. Blood test and skin biopsy results are available within three or four working days which compared with the four to six weeks from the national health service is very desirable.
The modern day expectation is for the highest degree of expertise and best possible outcomes. Our clinics have strived for this from day one and in taking on only the best qualified staff, continue to deliver at the highest level.
What key decisions or turning points have shaped its business trajectory the most?
The advent of the internet and digital marketing was a huge driving force at the beginning of my journey in the private medical sector and adoption of these strategies allowed for rapid growth and quickly promoted nationwide awareness of the brand.
I think the biggest turning point in the business was Covid from 2020 as this allowed for the introduction of video consultations which now make up a large proportion of the business.
The beauty of video consultations is that they can occur on any day of the week as they do not require other staff members present and as such at Proderm UK we offer them on Saturdays and Sundays. Video consultations where possible are very convenient for patients and also save a lot of travelling, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint of the clinic and saving patients money.
What was the thought process behind you branching out in the locations you have?
Once I had established a single clinic of the highest calibre, a Dermatology Centre of excellence, I felt it appropriate to branch out into other areas of the country.
This is in part for the convenience of patients but also I am always striving to find ways to try and reduce travel and thus reduce the carbon footprint of the clinic overall.
The new clinics would also reach new markets as there are many people not prepared to travel for long journeys just for a consultation with a doctor and opening clinics in their local vicinity allow them access to the services that Proderm UK has to offer.
In terms of the endgame, having a network of centres of excellence around the country makes for a very valuable asset and would be attractive to investors.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to grow their business and clinics?
One of the most vital things in any business is the end product which in a dermatology clinic is expertise in treating skin disease. I would recommend anyone trying to grow a clinic to ensure that their doctors are of the highest level and that they do not dilute this by taking on less skilled or underqualified practitioners.
Clients are prepared to pay for expertise and would feel short-changed if they were not receiving the highest level. It also guarantees the best possible outcomes for patients which is what the paying customer is looking for.
Do not try to expand too quickly. Wait until you have perfected a clinic model and the service it provides as well as the administrative support team and only expand when this is set up.
Focus on excellent administrative staff because these are the interface between your business and new clients. They need to be highly knowledgeable about all the services provided as well as personable and empathetic.
Every leader faces defining challenges. What moment in your journey tested you most as a business owner — and how did it shape your leadership approach?
The defining moment for me was when I chose to sell my first clinic to an investment group. The value was tied in over five years, but then along came Covid and turned the value to dust.
Instead of being in a comfortable financial position for the future, Covid drained the value out of my company and left me close to bankruptcy.
It took immense strength and mental fortitude to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding and that is where Proderm UK was formed. A real Phoenix from the ashes story, if you will. However, the expertise and experience I had gained through building my previous clinic was invaluable and Proderm UK became a great success far more rapidly than I had anticipated.
The greatest lesson I took from that was to learn from your mistakes, and avoid making them again the next time round.
What innovations are you most excited about in dermatology or aesthetic medicine right now?
The most exciting change of recent has been the advent of Janus kinase inhibitor drugs. These are focal immune suppressant drugs. So they pick a very specific part of the immune system called the JAK-STAT pathway and block the interaction. They are game-changing drugs in the treatment of certain conditions, such as alopecia areata, the autoimmune variant of hair loss. These drugs can completely reverse alopecia areata, and there are plenty of patients that I have who have taken them with great success. They’re also very safe drugs and can also help with eczema and other autoimmune skin diseases.
Do you see a shift from treatment-based care to preventative or regenerative dermatology?
Preventative medicine is the greatest form of medicine. Take sunscreen for example, looking at Australia, we have seen an improvement in the level of skin cancer, stabilizing rather than increasing. In my line of work, by definition, patients are usually already suffering with the condition by the time they come to see me. So in my particular field, I'm seeing treatment rather than prevention. There is a possibility that with the advent of AI assessment of skin, lesions or disease, that it would be possible to see people earlier and treat people earlier, which usually gives better outcomes. I suspect that this field will evolve dramatically in the coming few years.
Do you think social media and celebrity culture have changed the way people perceive skin health and beauty?
Social media has changed a lot of things so dramatically that it's now even possible to deny a known fact as being “fake news”. As such, it has opened a can of worms with respect to what is a genuine skin concern and what isn't. Since social media has come around, we are seeing lots of perceptions of different conditions being altered dramatically. We've seen the advent of the Topical Steroid Withdrawal syndrome, which is very prevalent on social media, but in real life, is exquisitely rare, and consequently, a lot of people are worried they may have it when they don't always and as such, leave their eczema to become very severe untreated.
What inspired you to specialise in dermatology — was there a defining moment?
It wasn’t until I had started doing my general medical exams and I’d already been a doctor for five years, but I started to see how important the skin was as a window into the body, and how it manifested systemic diseases, for example, diabetes or liver disease or various other conditions would show up as markers in the skin. So I thought I'd be a general physician, who then became a dermatologist. But I became so fascinated by dermatology, I ended up pursuing this specifically as a career, and I've never regretted it. One of the most enjoyable things about dermatology is that the quality of life improvements you bring about in patients are second to none.
Everyone can see your skin, so if you have something wrong with it like severe eczema, acne, psoriasis or some sort of scarring disease or a birthmark, it can really affect you psychologically and cause anxiety or depression. These are conditions that we can now treat incredibly well, and the levels of anxiety and mental health associated with having bad skin can evaporate completely when a dermatologist has treated the skin adequately, and we end up with a patient who feels completely normal again. So you end up with a lot of happy patients in medical dermatology and that is extremely, emotionally rewarding.
How do you personally define success — both professionally and as a leader in healthcare?
There are two aspects here. Looking at success from the medical perspective, and that is what happens when a patient comes to see you with a diagnosis, and you firstly, have to make the diagnosis, which is sometimes tricky in its own right, and secondly, provide the appropriate evidence-based treatment for that diagnosis. When you see a patient who's been struggling for that with that condition for years, who then comes back to you, and they are markedly better, and much happier, you measure that as success, likewise, with the treatment of their cancer or their lesion that you've successfully removed and hopefully cured, and hopefully if it's malignant - saved their life.
In terms of success, in terms of the business, you've got several aspects. I'm not worried about the commercial success of the business as such. I'm much more concerned with how the business is viewed by others. So patient reviews are a really useful way of measuring success, and complaints, if they come how you deal with them and how you convert a complaint into a positive learning experience to improve the business overall. Being patient focused and ensuring that everything is done in the best interest for the patient is a good measure of success.
What advice would you give to aspiring clinic founders who want to achieve sustainable growth without compromising ethics?
The focus on the patient, that's the most important thing, and the product that you provide needs to be of the highest standard. That could be that you are treating the patient for a skin disease using a consultant dermatologist, who is an expert in that field and holds the highest level of qualification and experience compared to other doctors. Or it could be that you are treating a patient aesthetically using devices or equipment that have an evidence base and that you are fully trained in being able to use adequately and fully certified. Focusing on the patient and the administrative side of things is essential if your clinic is run well and the patients are happy with the administrative process and being able to have their queries answered in a swift and timely fashion, then you have the basis to a successful clinic. Patient focus, sensitive and swift to respond with the highest level of product, your clinic will succeed.
What’s one patient story that has stayed with you over the years?
There have been a couple of patient stories that have stayed with me over the years. The first one was when the advent of the biological drugs came along and I was working with Professor Chris Griffith in Salford in Manchester, back in about 2001. He called me into his room very excited to show me a man who stood there in front of me, in his underwear with pretty much nothing wrong with his skin at all. And Chris said, “Look at this man. Isn't this incredible?” And I struggled to see what he was talking about. But then, when he showed me a photograph of what the man had looked like four weeks ago, he'd been covered 100% top to toe in the most severe psoriasis, and he had been for his entire life. The new drug infliximab, a new biological treatment, given by infusion, had totally cleared him for the first time ever, and it was an amazing moment, and it heralded a big change in the future of dermatology. These drugs had arrived, and now they are the gold standard treatment for anyone with psoriasis, absolute game changers.
Another was a patient I treated with a new drug called a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor for alopecia areata, the autoimmune form of hair loss. Total hair loss in women is one of the most critically defining cosmetic and psychological impacts that a woman could ever have. The JAK inhibitors allowed complete resolution of this. I remember my first ever patient who'd lost all of her hair, and I put her on the JAK inhibitor. I wasn't confident, because nothing had ever worked for alopecia, never prior to this. When I saw her four months later, she had 100% regrowth on her head, and now, 10 years later, she continues to enjoy full length, luxuriant hair. Again, this has been an absolute game changer for this condition.
Where do you see the future of dermatology in the next decade?
In England, the national health service is under increasing strain, and consequently, skin cancer in particular, is not being treated in a timely fashion. Historically, it could be a two week wait for your appointment and then two to three weeks wait for treatment. Now people are waiting several months just for the first appointment. Of course, if you have cancer that’s just not acceptable. Likewise, all dermatology consultations are delayed by many months in some trusts, up to a year. So I see the future of dermatology becoming private.
The time will come when the vast majority of non-cancer work and non-severe work becomes private. It saddens me because the NHS is such a wonderful institution,
but the ever spiraling costs to run it will probably drive this.
I suspect that AI will play a big role in the future too. It certainly plays a role in organising my clinic
and my clinical documentation too, but it may become a good diagnostic tool in the future. I've had patients come up to me and say, I think this is a skin lesion called squamous cell carcinoma, and it's because they googled it on their phone with a Google lens or similar. Sometimes AI is correct, sometimes it isn't, so AI may end up driving even more people into dermatology to seek corroboration, but 10 years from now, who knows what AI will be doing.
Dr Adam Friedmann is a multi-award-winning consultant dermatologist and the founder of ProDerm UK. With over 25 years of experience on Harley Street — one of the world’s most prestigious destinations for medical excellence — Dr Friedmann leads his clinic with a vision of delivering world-class dermatological care in a state-of-the-art environment.
Connect with Dr Friedmann on LinkedIn here.
