Catherine Rutland discusses the importance of professional unity during this difficult period.
I actually can’t believe we have been in this pandemic for almost a year now. In some ways it has gone really quickly, in other ways it has been a long 12 months.
Whilst there have been the obvious professional changes in that time – closure or near closure of practices, the new ways of working to satisfy guidelines in each different jurisdiction – there have also been other changes.
The profession has always contained a variety of views on many aspects of dentistry. However, not for many years has there been so much discussion around those differing views, whether they were on opening or not, PPE, mask types, or your preferred payment type. These discussions have united the profession as well as highlighted some rifts.
Different groups and bodies have championed different causes, from access to care for patients to financial stability for the profession. Social media has given opportunity for views and thoughts to be shared more easily. The differences between private and NHS have been highlighted more than in a normal year, and discussions around contract changes have continued.
The vast majority of practices in the UK are mixed, albeit with very different proportional splits between private and NHS, yet all the same, work under at least two payment systems. Although private spend has increased phenomenally, there are still far more NHS courses of treatment carried out. In normal time periods, these stats and the increase in private dentistry would not have been as significant as they have been over the last 12 months. Yet funding, or lack of it, in many areas of practice life has caused debate, worry and differences of opinion.
Whilst my bias on payment systems is obvious, I am always conscious that as with every aspect of our professional lives, we must respect other people’s choices. I speak to so many dentists and know that decisions in all parts of our professional lives can, whilst appearing to be exactly the same, have come through a different pathway of thought and reasoning. Our decisions in any aspect of our lives always have so much framing around them, and professionally it is no different.
As this strange situation continues and we see more changes, it feels important to remain united in the areas we can comfortably do so. We are such a small profession that if we fragment we run the risk of diluting our impact. This period has shown beyond anything else how passionate we are as a profession about what we do; that is so powerful if used well.
We need to use the momentum gained through the last period to continue to raise the profile of oral health, its links to general health and as with so many areas of healthcare, the importance of prevention. As with so many things, it is often not until something is taken away that people realise its worth. If we can bring something positive out of the challenges of the last months it would be to use this realisation of how important dentistry is.
If we work to take control over those areas that we can personally, be they big or small, in relation to any part of our lives this year, it will help us to weather those areas that we can do little about.
For many people that I have spoken to, that is how they have dealt with the last difficult months, and it will be needed as we continue through this year. Always remember that most of the time, making any change decision to gain an element of control is the hardest part. Whether it is in relation to direct patient care, business decisions around the running of the practice or payment methods, once the decision is made, take your team with you and give them certainty and control in an uncertain world.
The days will get lighter, the vaccines will start to have their impact and some things will start to get a little easier. We will continue to have different opinions in different areas. If we work with each other and respect those differences, we will be more powerful than the sum of our parts.