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CQC – a letter to The Times

Oct 182011
 

I’m grateful for this link from Alun Rees’s blog:

Published in The Times yesterday. Well done Dr Andrew Adey.

Dear Sir,

For the Care Quality Commission to blame chasing of paperwork targets for the sad state of affairs in hospitals is brazen indeed, as it is the CQC, along with Primary Care Trusts and other “governance” and “compliance” organisations which have enforced the burdensome paperwork load in the first place. For my own profession of dentistry this has resulted in a virtual tsunami of un-necessary policy writing and compliance with innumerable pieces of micro-managing and verification of processes.

Despite what some might say, whose jobs depend upon it, not one jot of this massive effort has resulted in the health or welfare of my patients, my staff, or myself improving. It has however added to the already high costs of running a healthcare business or service. I would not be suprised in the least to learn that nurses have been taken off caring for people and put in front of computer screens and manilla folders. It seems that the more organisations are involved in so-called “regulation” or a service the worse the service becomes.

This government said it would slash red tape.

They lied.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Adey BDS
Dental Surgeon,

IHMDP Hypnotherapy Course Report

Oct 102011
 

IHMDP Hypnotherapy course for dentists 4th-5th Octrober 2011.

My report on this course has now been published by Dentistry magazine HERE

For more information on forthcoming courses please visit: www.ihmdp.org

What a Trance-formation!

Oct 052011
 

So, 2 days ago I knew next-to-nothing about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, but tomorrow I’m going into work with the full intention of using this fascinating technique on as many patients as I can.

The benefits seems boundless, and the downsides virtually non-existent. I’m amazed dentists and doctors aren’t taught a LOT more about this subject as a matter course; it just seems to be such a no-brainer (did I mean that?, not sure!!). Continue reading »

Learning to Tie Shoelaces

Oct 032011
 

I have a lovely pair of Ted Baker shoes, but they have those annoying, round, shiny laces that are forever coming undone – the answer, for me anyway, has always been to tie a double knot.

Last night I watched this video

How to tie your shoes

and this morning I put the shoes on to go to a meeting and dared to tie them the new way, but without the double knot – and guess what, I returned home hours later and they were still tied! How could I got to 56 and not known this? :)

As Terry Moore says, “a small advantage someplace in life can yield tremendous results someplace else”.

Learning to Chill

Sep 302011
 

I loved Chris Barrow’s Posterous blog on Time Management tonight – he really sums up how many of us are feeling right now – that sense of overwhelm. You’d think with everyone complaining about the economy we’d all be quiet, but the opposite seems to be true.

Everyone I know seems to be working harder than ever, the roads are full of cars, the restaurants are full of diners, the shops are full of shoppers – I was in a new-ish practice in Leeds this afternoon – absolutely FULL of patients, bursting at the seams, and they’re thinking of adding another 6 surgeries very soon.

Does any of this fit with the doom and gloom the media are telling us all the time? Which version is correct; the one I see before my eyes, the lively, vibrant, dynamic country I live in, or the one I’m being told to believe in on the TV and radio?? I’m very confused.

 

 

Five Years’ Study and No Job?

Sep 292011
 

It takes a lot to get me angry. In fact, I actually can’t remember the last time I was, unless it was when a dental engineer came to check my delivery unit and left me with a handpiece that wasn’t working, even though it was when he arrived!

Prof Chris Franklin

Prof Chris Franklin, COPDEND Chair


Today, however, I was incandescent – the full racing heart, sweaty palms job. The reason? An email from the charman of the postgraduate dental deans’ organisation COPDEND.

Here’s what I asked him:

Continue reading »

IHMDP Hypnotherapy Courses, Feb 2012, London

Sep 262011
 

Upcoming courses in dental hypnosis run by the Institute of Hypnotherapy for Medical and Dental Practice

  • Dental Hypnosis 1:  Technical Foundations on 22nd February 2012 in Central London
  • Dental Hypnosis 2:  Applied Clinical Skills on 23rd February 2012 in Central London

Technical Foundations Course (1 Day)

Date: 22nd February 2012
Venue: Central London
Cost: ￡150

This course can be taken by dentists and staff working in contact with patients in a dental practice. It covers skills in using hypnosis both formally and informally in interactions with patients to alleviate anxiety and experience of pain and facilitate giving treatment to anxious patients, both adults and children.

The course includes the following main topics:

  • Alleviate dental anxiety and phobia in patients
  • Ease pain and discomfort in patients
  • Improve patient compliance for dental procedures
  • Boost attendance for check-ups and cleaning
  • Reduce/ eliminate needle phobia
  • Increase patient satisfaction
  • Improve staff well-being due to increased cooperation of patients

This course delivers the highest service and training to dental staff. Therefore early booking is encouraged to avoid disappointment.

Applied Clinical Skills Course (1 Day)

Date: 23rd Feburary 2012
Venue: Central London
Cost: ￡150

Graduates of the foundation course or with previous hypnodontics training are eligible to attend the advanced course to increase their skills in dental hypnosis.

The course includes the following main topics:

  • Hypnoanalgesia for anaesthetic averse patients
  • Reduction/elimination of pain and discomfort during and after dental procedures
  • Improvement of haemostasis during dental procedures
  • Hypnosis for dental patients with severe dental anxiety and phobia
  • Stress management for dental personnel
  • Hypnosis to reduce/ eliminate gagging
  • Hypnosis for bruxism

There is a discount for booking both courses.
Book your seat today. To book your course visit www.ihmdp.org or phone 0207 385 1166 or send an email to info@ihmdp.org, stating your  name and telephone number and a team member will contact you as soon as  possible.

LeJog 2009 Report

Sep 252011
 

LeJog 2009

There’s something about “LeJog”, or to give it its formal title, the Land’s End to John O’Groats Reliability Trial. It gets under your skin. Despite it being six years since I had last competed on this event, my very first classic car rally, the need to go back and do it all over again had been gnawing away at me. A task not properly completed.
My first attempt, in an ill-prepared TR4 piloted by an equally ill-prepared team of novice driver and navigator, was a baptism of fire. I think the term “rolling restoration” would describe our adventure fairly well. I’d rather not go into the painful details, but freewheeling down the Hardknott Pass in the pitch black of a December night with a 14 degree frost using just a couple of torches for guidance was one of the, erm, highlights.

Andy and Adrian with the 1961 TR4 on the 2003 LeJog

Andy and Adrian with the 1961 TR4 on the 2003 LeJog

We did, however, make it to the finish at John O’Groats and tasted that feeling of elation mixed with extreme tiredness. Fatefully, we sat with the organiser of the Tour of Cheshire at dinner that night and a future career in historic road rallying was born.

Feeling the need to keep in touch with LeJog, and wanting to “do my bit” I had volunteered to marshal out in the cold and wet in mid-Wales for three of the intervening five years; every time re-kindling the need to have just one more try.

2009 had been a busy year, work-wise at least, but other than an ill-fated attempt at the Carpetbagger Rally back in January, completely rally-free. Serious withdrawal symptoms were taking hold by mid-October and, after a swift phone call to Iain Tullie to see if he still had the event pencilled into his diary, the search for a suitable car began. Continue reading »

Private Vocational Training

Sep 232011
 

The article about Private Vocational Training that has just appeared in the Dental Tribune education section (pg 15) sums up the idea and the practicalities of the scheme as well as anything, thanks to the excellent writing skills of Rachel Kendrick. I’ve reproduced it here for you in case you don’t have access to the magazine – and please tweet it, “like” it and email it to anyone who might be interested – thank you!

 VT, as it was intended to be

It has long been recognised that the first 12 months in practice after graduation set the pattern for the rest of your practising career. Bad habits learned at this stage can be difficult to break, so a small group of far-sighted individuals decided to start a scheme where new graduates could work in practices that met the highest standards, be overseen and mentored by experienced, ethical practitioners who could help shape their careers, passing on lessons that had been learned the hard way. Continue reading »

The Optimum Dental Company – Optident

Sep 232011
 

It was my great pleasure, yesterday, to travel to Ilkley and meet up again with the wonderful success story that is Optident Ltd. This specialist dental supply company is the epitome of the great FAMILY business, built on an ethos of manufacturing and sourcing great products from around the world and backing it all up with unbeatable customer service.

Optident is also a company that has been responsible for constantly raising the standards of dentistry in the UK for more years than I care to remember. They don’t just supply products and let you get on with it; from the every early days they have constantly provided unbeatable postgraduate education. Meeting people like Dr John Kanka, Dr Dan Fischer (Ultradent), Dr Byoung Im Suh (BISCO) and many others like them at Optident courses back in the 1980s when they were all just starting out had a major impact on the way my career developed. The information and guidance I received from those courses put me and many others so far ahead of the game on composites, bonding, whitening and tissue handling I really don’t think I could have made the leap into private practice  in 1991 without them.

They’re still doing it now, with their Ab Initio course in Dublin this weekend, Vanini Masterclasses, and even their own fantastic lecture and hands-on education facilities in Ilkley.

I remember David Butterfield making the move from being one of Whaledent’s most successful sales managers to running his own company back in 1987. One of his first innovations was to design and manufacture really high quality titanium posts, the Op-Po System – something I still use regularly to this day. I also vividly remember, and so does DB because I saw him yesterday and he reminded me of it, when I visited their very first offices in Bingley on the BMW K100RS motorcycle that I had just bought from Alan Jeffries along the road in Shipley. David was surrounded by his family; Kathy and their offspring Tim and Tessa, and they’re still a proper family business to this day. Another abiding memory was sitting in the Skipton offices at about 2pm and looking out to see that four inches of snow had fallen in 20 minutes and thinking I’d better make a run for it; it was the day Bradford and the M62 were completely closed and I finally made it home at midnight, a journey that usually takes about an hour!

Nowadays Optident have grown to a major player in the world dental market, but they remain true to their family roots and only manufacture, or work with manufacturers who supply, the highest quality products. It’s paid off. They have 12,000 active clients now, send out 250-300 parcels a day to the UK and Ireland but also have developing markets in France, Italy, USA, Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Israel, Cyprus, Korea, Portugal, Canada and Gibraltar – phew!! No wonder Tim’s never home.

Anyway, I wanted to give them a big thank you for being one of the most positive and consistently excellent companies, without whom the dental profession would be much poorer. Thanks guys, particularly the younger generation who we know will keep it all going, Tim Butterfield, Dave Oultram, John Maloney and Rebecca Fowler, we all owe you a lot (but there’s a cheque in the post ;) )

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