BRACE, BRACE, BRACE

As someone who flies about twice a month on average, I guess I would count as a “frequent flyer” and I have heard the various safety presentations held at the beginning of each flight, time and time again. However, as a matter of courtesy to the cabin staff, I always stop what I am doing, pay attention and always like the bit when they say ‘Brace, Brace, Brace!’ This is the call to adopt the crash position and thankfully I have never had to adopt this posture and I hope that my good fortune may continue.

Emergencies such as these are thankfully rare, but when they do occur then I am sure the well trained staff speed into action, do the best that they can and execute a well rehearsed plan. Can the same be said for dental practices? Do they need to?

Well for areas such as CPR the answer is a firm yes, but I believe that the same should apply in the business sector of a dental practice as well. I realise that I am probably becoming as boring to practice owners as the flight safety presentation can sometimes seem to regular air travellers, but if there was a real emergency then what would you do?

Well, there is no “if”, there is an emergency! After the General Election, which at the time of writing this article is just two days away, there will be an emergency budget to address the burgeoning public sector deficit and the NHS has already been asked to find “efficiency savings” of £20 billion. Strategic health authorities have started this process and begun to identify areas to be cut and whilst politicians of all persuasions pledge to protect “front line” services, the brutal truth is that they cannot. In reality, probably tens of thousands of jobs and thousands of beds will go and other services such as ambulances will be reduced, one growth area may well be NHS Direct.

And so, what does the future hold for NHS dentistry? Well, in my opinion it will not be exempt from cuts no matter how they might be dressed up and you only have to look across to Ireland to see that there is clear precedent in this area.

So, how would you respond? Are you ready for the challenges that lie ahead? Do you have a clearly thought-through and developed action plan in case of such a contingency? Or, do you belong to the world of wishful thinkers travelling hopefully?

I would urge all practices that have a significant dependence on the NHS to prepare a contingency plan now, assuming significant cuts in funding and examining ways that they might respond to such scenarios.

Some might accuse me of scaremongering or exaggerating the situation, but that has never been my intention or my style. I just believe that if you hear the call ‘Brace, Brace, Brace’, it’s best to know what to do and how to respond. Good Luck.

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