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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

November 19-25, 201224 United Kingdom EditionPractice Management P ia Mint began her den- tal career at 16 years of age during 1998. She was initially employed as a trainee dental nurse/receptionist at Mr Boyle’s dental surgery. Mr Boyle was nearing retirement; in 2002 he sold the practice to two broth- ers, with plans for expansion and modernisation. Initially they em- ployed two more dental nurses and appointed Pia as their recep- tionist/practice manager. The new owners found Pia’s knowledge of the practice and its patients extremely valuable. They were content to concentrate on clinical matters and to leave the administration to Pia. Over the following years the practice and the dental team expanded to become a four-chair practice providing 50 sessions per week of mixed NHS-private general den- tal care. Pia asked if the practice would fund her to take a practice management qualification, but the owners convinced her that she was doing a great job and would not benefit from taking a course. By 2010 Pia had married and was expecting her first baby. Her baby was born in De- cember and then she took ma- ternity leave until September 2011. Nina, one of the dentist’s partners covered Pia’s prac- tice management duties during her maternity leave. Whilst Pia was on leave was a significant turnover of staff. Some of the dental nurses had mentioned to her that they felt there had been an agenda to get them out, so that Nina could choose her own staff and secure her control over the practice. When Pia returned to work many of the system and proce- dures she had developed over the years had been replaced by vague ill-defined procedures, which only Nina could operate. On her return to work she was ill at ease with the changes and wanted to reinstate her tried and tested policies and procedures. Even although Pia was back at work Nina continued to attend and the relationship between Pia and her employers deteriorated. This saddened Pia. On one hand she knew that she could settle for the new regime or accept it was time for new challenges. She mentioned how she was feeling to one of the reps and be- fore long she had a phone call from Jon-Luke Endeavour and his partner Hugo Hope, owners of Endeavour and Hope Dental Surgery. They knew Pia by repu- tation and wanted to offer Pia the new position of practice manager at their dental centre. One of the reasons Pia accept- ed the practice manager appoint- ment at Endeavour and Hope dental surgery was because they were keen to introduce a patient- centred philosophy based on the sort of quality systems and pro- cedures that she had introduced over her years as practice man- ager at her previous practice. The Endeavour and Hope dental surgery is located in a large detached house in an afflu- ent Midlands suburb. Dr Harold Patterson established the prac- tice in 1979. Jon-Luke and Hugo purchased the practice in 2009. During the past year the practice has undergone massive changes. Plans to re-brand the practice had been discussed to make the practice more attractive to pri- vate patients. The practice is well placed in a residential road very close to a busy shopping and commercial centre. Since her in- terview, Pia had started to read articles published in the dental press on dental practice man- agement. She feels enthusiastic about joining a practice with like- minded owners where she can put her ideas into action. On Pia first day she was the first to arrive at the practice. New Beginnings In this series we follow Pia Mint as she takes on a new challenge