Catherine Rutland discusses the importance of professional solidarity.
Is it me or has this last year of lockdown seemed like the shortest ever? Written like that the answer seems like a no, as in some ways it has been so long and so much has happened, however the speed we seem to have gone through it, in some ways has been so fast.
As the signs of spring emerge and the road map for the easing of restrictions is set out, it feels much easier to envisage a future and plan a little.
Having chaired a roundtable on the future of dentistry a few weeks ago, with people from different areas of the profession, there was much to talk about. Building their thoughts into a white paper we are currently working on, we wish to raise those common areas that the profession feel are important.
We are, relatively speaking, a small profession, and it can be difficult to create awareness in government of our issues and concerns. The pandemic and the closure of practices, shortage of appointments and the long term consequences of this have given us a voice that has not been so heard in parliament for many years. The voice of patients has also been raised, as we know, and this has added to the noise.
It was raised at the roundtable and I would reiterate it here, that we must seize this opportunity and not let it drift past; who knows when we will get such an opportunity again.
The pandemic forced us to reconsider the status quo, in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. In the early days, I wondered whether once things returned to normal we would revert very quickly to our old ways and habits. But as time has progressed I think many of our changed behaviours have become new ways and habits, making us far less likely to change all the way back.
With this will come many people considering their future plans, and perhaps even whether or not they should stay in the profession. We are already seeing this in all areas of our teams. We were already facing workforce issues prior to the pandemic and the situation has become worse – we need to find ways to address this and make the profession inviting. This is not something individual practices or even certain sectors of the profession can do, it will need to be a joined up approach.
During the pandemic, many people found their voices on issues, and raised them. When things settle and a new status quo is reached, it can be easy to focus on the everyday and the importance of raising your voice, in a professional manner of course, does not seem to be so needed. Yet, I would suggest at this juncture in time, it is.
There is opportunity to keep the momentum for change and make sure the profession is heard and understood. Right at the centre of this, in my view, has to be the oral health of the nation, the importance of it and how it feeds into general health.
If we lose sight of this, we face the chance of losing direction and it makes it more difficult to achieve our joint messages, and the power of those. If the same themes, concerns, and suggested solutions come from different areas of the profession it creates a louder voice.
We may all work in different environments, payment structures and demographic areas yet there are common themes that we all care about. The oral health of our patients, the morale and wellbeing of those we work with, the future workforce and ongoing education and improvement of all registrants. And of course, financial security and control over how practices are run is also so important, and naturally feeds into the above – we will be no use to anyone without sustainable business models.
After such a difficult year, let us seize the opportunity it has created, and not waste all the hard work already done. Let us make sure that the future of dentistry is what we, as a profession, would like to be.