Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

B ADN Chief Exec Pam Swain completes 20 years of service with the Asso- ciation this year, making her the longest-serving Chief Executive of a dental professional association. Pam, (pictured), started work- ing for the ABDSA, as it was then, in August 1992 when the Asso- ciation head office was a small room above a bank in Fleet- wood. “There was one desk which I shared with the two parttimestaff,aphoneonthewall, a very primitive word editor (a sort of pre-computer) and a man- ual typewriter,” said Pam. “We only had a few hundred members, which is just as well, because we sent out mailings by hand - folding, stuffing and licking stamps - after we’d typed out the envelopes! But this was already a huge advance - until the late 80s, the Association, the Exam Board and the Voluntary Register had all been run out of the same office by two ladies with three different coloured pens - blue for the As- sociation, red for the Exam Board, green for the Register - and a box of index cards!” Paula Sleight, who joined Council earlier in 1992, and who was President 1995-1997, remem- bers it well: “At Council meetings, we all had to squeeze around a table in this tiny little meeting room. Those at the top of the table couldn’t get out again until those at the bottom had left the room! “Pam’s appointment made a huge difference to the Association. She dragged us screaming, some- what belatedly, into the 20th cen- tury and put the Association onto a much more business-like footing, introducing a computer system, including a professional custom- ised database management sys- tem; functional equipment like a franking machine and a proper telephone system; a proper mem- bership benefits scheme; she re- organised Council meetings so that they ran much more efficient- ly; and revamped the Journal into the professional publication it is today. That’s without mentioning what she did for Conferences!” Joan Hatchard, BADN’s Fi- nance Officer and a Conference attendee since the late 80s agrees: “Pam’s efficiency and organisa- tion really made a difference to Conference. Pam runs a very tight ship - everything is planned out to the last minute and smallest detail with contingency plans for almost everything. In addition, her networking skills soon meant that she had persuaded top class speakers to appear at Conference and dental trade companies to sponsor it, making the BADN Con- ferenceamajoreventindentistry.” “Having an experienced “bu- reaucrat” (her word, not mine) at the helm made the Association much more professional,” says Paula. “Up until then, we’d had more in common with the WI or the Mothers Union than a profes- sional association but Pam’s arriv- al changed all that. The fact that she wasn’t a dental nurse herself and had no dental baggage meant that she wasn’t intimidated by dentists or by the larger institu- tions like the BDA and the GDC, and was prepared to say and do whatever necessary to represent dental nurses and to get their views across.” Current BADN President Nico- la Docherty also recognises Pam’s contribution to BADN. “I am sure all past Presidents will agree with me that the support offered by Pam and the office staff makes the Presidential term of office run much more smoothly. We all draw extensively on Pam’s skills and knowledge to get us through our two years”! DT 20 years of service for BADN’s Pam L onDEC, a joint enterprise between King’s College London Dental Institute and the NHS London Deanery, is celebrating after winning a pres- tigious award at the 2011 Elisa- beth Paice Awards for Educational Excellence in Medical and Dental Education. The team behind run- ning the education and training centre was nominated as winner in the category of Best Postgradu- ate Education Centre Team. The annual Elisabeth Paice Awards identify and reward those making outstanding commitment and contributions to postgraduate medical and dental education and are judged by a panel from the NHS London Deanery. The LonDEC team was hon- oured with the title Best Postgrad- uate Education Centre Team 2011 at the awards presentation even- ing held at the De Vere Holborn Bars Hotel. After receiving the award Bill Sharpling, Director of LonDEC and Senior Clinical Teacher at the Dental Institute and Dental Tutor for the London Deanery, said: “I am extremely proud of the Lon- DEC staff and vast team of teach- ers that contribute to the success of the Centre. The contribution from Perry Tatman, Tara Owen, Victoria Hegarty and Tom Laine has been a significant factor in receiving this team award, as has the committed weekly teaching of Raj Majithia and Sandra Smith. “The courses we arrange in- clude events for 10 to more than 300 delegates, with a range of pro- grammes from two-hour even- ing seminars, half day and one day courses and three day master classes. Additionally, we host the nine-day residential programmes, which form part of King’s Col- lege London Dental Institute’s blended learning master’s degree programme training. Our high quality London Deanery CPD programmes continue to receive excellent feedback and during the last year the team have overseen 471 courses, of which 316 were dedicated Deanery courses.” Prof Nairn Wilson, Dean and Head of the Dental Institute, said: “The Elisabeth Paice Award is a richly deserved honour for Lon- DEC.Buildingonsuchsuccess,itis hoped that LonDEC will continue to grow and develop as a ground- breaking centre of excellence. LonDEC was shortlisted for an Elisabeth Paice Award in Novem- ber. This in itself is a great acco- lade and is a significant achieve- ment for a centre that is just over two years old to be considered for such an award against well-estab- lished postgraduate medical edu- cation centres. The winning cen- tre in 2010 was the Postgraduate Medical Education Department at Great Ormond Street Hospital. DT Team honour for LonDEC A trial programme carried out by Cardiff University could help significantly reduce the number of antibi- otic prescriptions handed out by GPs. The programme meant that the 89 Welsh GP practices that took part in the two-year trial received antibiotic prescribing and resistance data obtained from their own practices. It also meant that GPs had access to online learning materials and ‘consulting skills’ tools, ena- bling and encouraging doctors to effectively discuss treatment options with their patients. According to a report, the researchers found that partici- pating practices greatly reduced their numbers of antibiotic pre- scriptions. They also calculated that if the initiative was to be introduced throughout the UK, prescriptions could be cut by a staggering 1.6 million per year, saving the NHS money. It would also help tackle antibiotic resist- ance. Lead researcher Professor Chris Butler, whose findings are published in the British Medical Journal, said: “As most antibi- otics are prescribed in general practice, safely reducing the number of unnecessary pre- scriptions is essential. “The STAR programme helped Welsh GPs gain new skills derived from motivation- al interviewing so they could achieve evidence-based treat- ment while taking patient per- spectives into account.” DT A prescription for prescribing Anti-biotics are fast becoming resistant D r Robert Kinloch has been re-elected as Chair of the Brit- ish Dental Association (BDA) Scottish Dental Practice Com- mittee (SDPC). His re-election was unopposed. Dr Kinloch is a general dental practitioner who prac- tises at Alexandria, near Loch Lomond. He graduated from Glasgow Dental School in 1977 and has been in general practice since then, initially working as an associate before establishing his own practice in 1981. In addition to serving as Chair of SDPC, he also chairs the BDA’s Scottish Council and the UK Health- care Policy Group. He has served as SDPC Chair since January 2010. Thanking his committee members for electing him, Dr Kinloch said: “It is a huge privilege to be re-elected as Chair of SDPC. I’d like to thank my commit- tee members for their con- tinued support. Although we have seen some very posi- tive developments in general practice in Scotland in recent years, there are many chal- lenges still ahead of us. I look forward to leading SDPC as we debate and address them.” Dr Gerard Boyle, a gen- eral dental practitioner in Glasgow, was elected as Vice Chair. Also elected to serve on the SDPC Executive were Drs Robert Donald, John Glen, Derek Harper and David McColl. DT Robert Kinloch re- elected as Chair of SDPC 7NewsFebruary 27-March 4, 2012United Kingdom EditionUnited Kingdom Edition