“It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes.
What matters most is getting off.
You cannot make progress without making decisions.”
Long Distance Traveller – no one does it closer, really?
This is from Richard Charon via Facebook.
Subject: Long distance traveller
Just getting in gear for next Saturday’s RA course
Teams and individuals will travel from Durham, Woking & Sheffield to my Newbury practice. But they are not the long distance travellers I refer to.
Yesterday ( yes that is dentistry for busy people 8-)) ) I saw a new patient who had tracked me down from a Google search and had travelled from Swansea as she’d had RA before and could find no-one locally !!
She liked what she saw and by the end of the one hour consult including digital OPG, she has agreed to several more visits to complete basic treatment before starting Invisalign.
Leaving aside the helium for me, in as much as this lady will travel 5 hours return M4 drive to have the treatment she desires in the manner she desires; it begs the question, do you know a S. Wales practice that would benefit by expanding their services to include RA (light sedation) for anxious patients?
Can it be true that there is nobody between Swansea and Newbury that can service this patient’s needs and wants? Or is the truth that no-one is bothering to make the effort to tell their potential patients what they can do to help them? By providing a solution like RA or IV sedation you can have patients who become raving fans. I hear dentists tell me that they won’t “indulge” nervous patients, these are frequently the dentists who are wondering why their so-called regular, non-plan, patients need several reminders to attend for routine inspections (horrible phrase but better than “just a check up”).
Perhaps dentists presume that they are so skilled that none of their patients would benefit from sedation? Perhaps they think that to remove four premolar teeth for a child who has never had any previous dental intervention with just local is the very best that they can do. Just because the child is well behaved doesn’t mean they won’t be traumatised by the experience.
I have had to have multiple extractions twice in my life. Once aged 6, my first dental experience, and the norm for the time, I had four deciduous teeth and one first molar removed with GA, the black rubber gas mask and the noise of metal instruments on metal trays remains with me to this day. It took a highly skilled and sympathetic dentist to turn around my confidence.
Six years ago, before embarking on fixed appliance, therapy I had three teeth removed, two of theses were surgical extractions. I chose my clinician carefully, not only for her superb surgical skills, but also for the compassion she shows to her patients and I was treated using intravenous sedation.
During the 24 years prior to the sale of my practice I used sedation on adults and children routinely, if both parties agreed that it was the best way to treat them. At no point did I find it be anything other than an excellent practice builder. Richard, by utilising modern marketing techniques, is seeing his practice and skills, job satisfaction and profits moving to another level.
What’s stopping you?
Stephen Hudson – he rants but does speak sense.
Here’s Stephen Hudson’s most recent newsletter; as ever it is written in his unique style and the contents are worth a view.
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Who is Apolline?
Hello again
In his recent column in dentistry magazine, Apolline (in my opinion) shows that he just doesn’t get it. As “proof” I give you this statement:
“Whether private or NHS we should see any patient who wants to see us. We should have capacity to be able to offer anyone who comes through the door a quick check of 10 minutes and then go on and sell everything else….. at a later scheduled appointment.”
He bases his argument on the way the big optician chains operate on the high street. Hmmmm, sorry Apolline, but I’m going to disagree with you here.
1) You cannot compare opticians with dentists. They are two completely separate entities. A visit to the opticians invariably does not result in invasive surgery, nor does it routinely involve the treatment of pain. To top off the matter, most of the people visiting the opticians are not suffering varying levels of anxiety or fear. And to top it off, there are not large swathes of the population who feel they have a right to see an NHS optician…….. because there aren’t any.
2) Opening your doors to all and sundry is a recipe for disaster, and smells strangely of how many dentists ran their practices in the old GDS model. The treadmill was a result of how the dentist worked under the system, and was usually down to them treating too many patients, many of whom they didn’t like (and who didn’t like the dentist). One mistake, one error of judgement and a letter from “me learned fellow” arrived quicker than you could say “I always thought there was something not right about him”.
3) I fail to see the point of a “10 minute check” on someone you have never seen before. I can’t tell the dental status of a new patient in 10 minutes, it takes me more than that to just build rapport with someone. Rapport is essential if you are to effectively treat an individual as an individual. I would go so far as to say that if you don’t have rapport, then the patient is better off going somewhere else
4) The purpose of the branded opticians is to sell glasses. The purpose, in my opinion, of dental care is to get people dentally healthy. You do not sell dentistry, which is why I wrote this Effective Dental Sales System . By building a relationship with the patient you build trust. Through trust you can discover any concerns the patient has, as well as feeling free to report the findings of your clinical exam. You can then give them options and let THEM decide what to do, around the framework of your clinical recommendations. If you are in agreement you then do it.
Now I have visited the optician for their apparent convenience. The customer service was appalling. There was not enough staff to deal with the hoard that had descended on them that day. The shop floor staff were stressed, the establishment noisy. I was led through a veritable army of people, each performing a different task. Do I know the name of any of them? Nope. Even the optician declined to introduce herself. It was a “hello, sit down, what we doing, wear these, look at that, would you like to buy this” kind of situation. Efficient yes. A memorable customer service experience……….. no. I view it no different than going to Tesco’s.
You are more than welcome to run this kind of dental practice. Or you can develop a practice philosophy which works on the building of trust. Patients aren’t commodities, and they are not machines (unless you believe in the teachings of Gurdjieff of course). People are walking bags of hopes and fears, and they have needs. One of the most powerful human needs, especially in men, is the need to feel significant.
“Men will die for ribbons” Napoleon Bonaparte
The need for significance is a powerful force. It’s why we feel slighted when the receptionist doesn’t make eye contact, why we feel annoyed by those stupid electronic telephone answering services…
If you would like to scream abuse at someone in another country, press 1. If you would like to be kept on hold for the next 30 minutes whilst listening to a poor rendition of Bach’s Violin Concerto Number 1, press 2.
Apolline doesn’t get it. You can shop at Morrison’s, and be grunted at by a tattoo emblazoned youth at the checkout, or you can go to the local shop where you get a warm greeting. You can go to your doctor with your bad back and get some pills, or you can visit you chiropractor who spends TIME with you (hmm, I wonder why chiropractors are so popular despite the apparent lack of evidence behind their treatment methods).
Which kind of dentist would you like to be? Do you want to be open to your patient’s convenience? Or do you want to be a member’s only practice, where the patients are treated like royalty…………. so long as they follow YOUR RULES.
In my opinion (and this is a controversial view) you should make it difficult for people to join your practice. It should be a member’s only establishment, and entry is by referral from existing members only. If you are not NHS, then your patient membership should be purchased by monthly direct debit. Treatment fees are of course additional, and come at a significant discount. Your patient base must be made to feel that leaving you for another practice entails significant risk.
“Every Englishman is convinced of one thing, viz.: That to be an Englishman is to belong to the most exclusive club there is” -Ogden Nash
This does not mean you have to be prohibitively expensive. There is a call for this kind of practice, but their numbers are limited, especially in a recession. Most of us can operate an exclusive member’s only practice, based on fair fees that your local patient base can afford. Whilst this is not legal advice, I see nothing in my NHS contract that says I have to see all and sundry. The only rule is that I do not discriminate based on Race, Sex, disability, ability to pay etc etc etc. Is there anything there about only seeing people that you class as members? An interesting debate for the lawyers I feel.
And there will be patients that WANT the Tesco’s experience. And that’s fine; there are plenty of Tesco’s style practices out there. And you get to choose what type of practice you want to work in. It’s your choice, so choose wisely.
Regards
Stephen Hudson BDS, MFGDP, DRDP
Please help support the Sick Dentist Scheme and the BDA Benevolent fund by buying my book at Choose Your Reality. A proportion of the profits from its sale are split equally between these two charities
PS: Please feel free to pass this newsletter onto anyone you feel may be interested in it
GDP Resources
Disclaimer: S.Hudson or SNH Publications will not be held liable for any actions taken based on the information provided in this newsletters. This information is for entertainment purposes only.
BDA Conference 2
The day is gradually running down, the welcomes on the stands are as warm as ever and I have enjoyed renewing old aquaintances. There’s a promise of champagne later.
Thanks to the BDA for the organisation and for this excellent Internet Cafe.
Met up with Anne Bender and her colleague from the BDA Good Practice Scheme and I was pleased to see that they had their own stand as opposed to the “shelf” they have been give in the past. The scheme has 1200 members which compares favourably with the (alleged) 5-600 that are on Denplan Excel.
Before anyone from Denplan leaps to their defence I do realise that as the BDA serves all practices and has a numerical advantage at the outset. Also I realise that there are some practices with both accreditations. (ThAnks to Denplan for the delicious ice-cream.)
More tomorrow…..
BDA Conference 1
A short walk along the Clyde path and over the Bells Bridge brought me to the SECC. There was a commotion as I came towards the hall; a flurry of activity caused by photographers.
Had Barry Cockcroft joined the exodus from government posts? Had Gordon Brown at last given way to Eddie Crouch? (No but I have just found out that Alan Johnson has left the DoH for the Home Office so who will act on Jimmy Steele’s report, initiated by Johnson?). A: Andy Burnham from Culture Media & Sport.
No such luck. It was a meeting of the Lloyds shareholders furious that the value of their shares has plummeted since the takeover of HBOS.
The exhibition hall seems very quiet this morning but this is a mainly academic meeting inspite of the increasing trade presence. Very helpful conversations so far with Bridge2Aid and Royal Navy. Onwards.
Don’t forget to go to look at www.ChallengeDoh.com to take part in their survey.
So young and so wise!
Here’s a really good new blog. It’s written by Chris O’Connor, like me Chris is a Newcastle Dental graduate and I believe we are both ex-Presidents of The Dental Students Society (or DentSoc as it’s called now).
Chris is a relatively new associate in general practice and is writing a blog as his way of reflecting on the highs and lows of his career.
Highs include finally “getting it” about border tracing for full (or should that be complete?) dentures. Lows? Well a broken thumb in the last few days whilst playing in goal at 5-a-side soccer should make him realise about the “hills, valleys & Exocets” of life as Barrow puts it.
Do keep it up Chris.
Catch the blog here http://chrisoconnorblog.com/
The Monday Morning Quote #43
“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining. but wants it back the minute it starts to rain”
Mark Twain
Mental Feng Shui
I don’t usually like the stuff that arrives as a email chain letters but as this came from an unusual source I read it and liked it. Not a bad way to live your life. (I gather it originated from the Tony Robbin’s organisation)
- Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
- Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
- Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
- When you say, ‘I love you,’ mean it
- When you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ look the person in the eye.
- Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
- Believe in love at first sight.
- Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.
- Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.
- In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
Twitter – The Onion’s opinion.
The Celtic Talibanate – John Naughton
The late Dermot Morgan once described The Christian Brothers as the world’s first para-military teaching organisation.
I was brought up as a Catholic in Cardiff and heard tales from my mother of the Nuns’ brutality in her native Ireland. I experienced random acts of corporal “punishment” at both my prep and grammar schools at the hands of the De La Salle Brothers and secular teachers. What I could never understand is why there was little rhyme or reason for their actions. The last time it happened I was aged 14 and was subjected to four strokes of the cane for the crime of forgetting my rugby kit.
To my knowledge there was no sexual element in any of the actions of my teachers, or perhaps I didn’t realise that it was happening elsewhere and to others. The report issued last week about the extent of abuse in Ireland and the church & state’s complicity is truly shocking.
As usual John Naughton’s words are better than mine. You can read his blog here.
The Incisal Edge 