If you asked anyone in any profession whether they felt under time pressure, the chances are they would say ‘yes’.
And this is no less the case in dentistry, although there are differences across the sector.
In last year’s Confidence Monitor Survey by Practice Plan, 91% of NHS dentists said they were not happy that they had enough time to manage patient expectations.
This is in stark contrast to the same number of private dentists, 91%, who said they were happy about this aspect of patient care.
Kevin Lewis has recently written about the importance of time when it comes to building rapport with patients and cited research into the link between the quality of patient-clinician interactions.
In this year’s Dentistry Confidence Monitor survey, NHS and private dentists are again being asked about their feelings around the time they have to manage patient expectations.
They are also being asked about other aspects of practising dentistry day-to-day such as, how happy they are that they can provide the level of patient-care that they want to and that they can carry out their work without feeling overly stressed.
Other areas of dentistry being explored in the survey include the GDC, mental health, future career path, and contract reform.
At Far Headingley Dental Care we do not provide NHS dentistry. All of our dentists have previously worked within the NHS and all found that they could not deliver the quality of dental care and treatment under the NHS’s target driven system.
Instead at FHDC our services are tailored around the needs of our clients. This does mean that the cost of these services are higher than the NHS but is also means that more time is spent both understanding and delivering what our patients want and need. Unlike the NHS this is not restricted to restorative and preventive care, but also includes cosmetic dentistry too.
Article Source: Dentistry.co.uk
