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The coronavirus crisis and a recent court judgement is causing major problems with the principal-associate partnership, Alun Rees says. The old joke used to be that associates worked less but earned more than their principals. ‘Breezes in at 8:55, leaves at 5:25, and no idea about the business’ were the mutterings from practice owners. I … Continued
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Team building exercises don’t work, it is often down to poor leadership or the wrong people, Alun Rees says. ‘We need to improve the teamwork! ‘Could you spend a few hours and sort them out? ‘Perhaps you could run some team building exercises?’ I have endured team building exercises both as part of a team … Continued
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The ability to adapt quickly is the only way dentists can remain successful in the future, Alun Rees says. Nils Bohr, Nobel Prize winning physicist, philosopher and Olympic footballer (like Albert Camus he was a goalkeeper) said: ‘It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.’ That statement came back to me when I … Continued
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Dentists should accept each other’s differences and not report registrants to the GDC for misunderstandings, Alun Rees argues. I started 2020 hoping that this was the year the GDC would tone down its battle with the profession. The year it accepted that confrontation helps nobody, least of all patients. However in the pseudo-corporate world that … Continued
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Planning holidays and down time is important to avoid breakdowns and potentially disaster, Alun Rees says. The most physical, and dangerous, summer job I had was at the East Moors Steel Works in Cardiff. During one 16-day period known as ‘stop fortnight’, I worked with the gang cleaning the rolling mills. During that period, I … Continued
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Alun Rees explains what the latest general election will mean for NHS dentistry and what dentists should hope for in 2020. One of my first bosses said to me: ‘Dentists are mostly Conservative voters. ‘But we always do much better under a Labour government.’ He was describing a time when high inflation meant that NHS fee … Continued
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Artisan or entrepreneur – what are modern-day dentists, Alun Rees questions. I enjoyed two thought-provoking conversations with dental technicians recently. In the first one, ‘A’ updated me on his progress since he and his business partner had gone their separate ways after 29 years working together. In the other, ‘B’ told me about the huge steps … Continued
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Alun Rees says graduates having greater expectations than generations before doesn’t make them a ‘dental snowflake’. I want to address the phenomenon of the dental snowflake, and perhaps societal snowflake. Its derogatory use has pervaded conversations in recent years. It originates in the book, Fight Club, where Chuck Palahniuk wrote: ‘You’re not special. ‘You’re not … Continued
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Alun Rees explains why effective time management is so important when running a dental practice. The practice of clinical dentistry demands attention to detail and concentration. The needs of working in an environment where materials are sensitive, where visibility can be difficult and, of course, where your patient is usually awake are plentiful. For success in … Continued
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Alun Rees discusses how empathy is impacting and often contrasting with modern day dentistry. ‘It is as important to know what kind of a man has the disease, as it is to know what kind of disease has the man’ – Sir William Osler. Osler was a Canadian physician, one of the founders of Johns Hopkins … Continued
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Dentists and dental professionals should be writing things that aren’t on the page and instructing dental patients what they need, Alun Rees says. A recent article in the British Medical Journal discussed the instruction from Health Education England that patients and public should be consulted on ‘What they need from 21st century medical graduates’. I’m … Continued
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Take steps to change if you’re feeling genuinely unhappy in your job, Alun Rees says. Famous as the title of a jazz standard song, or rather spoken, by Peggy Lee 50 years ago: ‘Is that all there is?’. It has become the mantra of the disappointed. The song describes a house fire, a trip to the … Continued
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Alun Rees explains why we shouldn’t trust speakers who don’t show any of their failures. In his wonderful memoir, Do No Harm, neurosurgeon Henry Marsh discusses some of his failures and the circumstances that led to them. The chapter is appropriately called ‘Hubris’ and one story struck a chord with me. He writes about the conference … Continued
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Alun Rees describes the morning he realised he was doing too much and how Confidental can help. I remember it well. Monday 8am, first patient due at 8:30. I was driving to our practice in a suburb of Gloucester. My journey took me through the picture-postcard village of Upton-St-Leonards. I glanced in my rear-view mirror … Continued
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Alun Rees gives his thoughts on the American ‘teledentistry’ company, Smiledirectclub, which is coming to the UK. Smiledirectclub, a ‘teledentistry pioneer’, is opening ‘Smile Shops’ in nine locations around the UK. Their press release made life easy for sub-editors to cut and paste. The tone and content was designed to remove the focus from those boring places … Continued
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Plan for the future and continue to develop or you will be stuck in Year Zero, Alun Rees says. ‘This is England’s biggest club, stuck in one Year Zero after another.’ The quote came from an article about Manchester United shared by one of my favourite writers on sport and music, Richard Williams. The piece … Continued
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Is it time to take the gamble and move away from the NHS, Alun Rees asks. According to sources, Sara Hurley, the chief dental officer for England, has said: ‘There is about a 5% chance of a new NHS contract starting next year’. This is hardly a surprise; even at the best of times governments have … Continued
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Building a successful dental practice means embracing ‘moments of truth’, Alun Rees says. I have just completed a year as an area director of Toastmasters International. It has been great fun to interact with and learn from people whose aim is to support each other and become better public speakers. If public speaking fills you with terror, … Continued
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Delegation shouldn’t mean abdication when it comes to discussing treatment costs with patients, Alun Rees says. Some dentists hide their light away; they often fear rejection and are reluctant to tell their patients what can be done, what choices are available and, especially, how much it will cost. They are reluctant to embrace the concept … Continued
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When do you admit you’re climbing the wrong professional ladder, Alun Rees questions. ‘Fundamentally, I preferred the person that I was when I was not being a doctor. ‘Some people are very good at managing those tensions. ‘And I think that with hindsight, I wasn’t’. These are the words of Dr Prasanna Puwanarajah taken from an … Continued
