In the latest in our blog series about why people maintain long-standing relationships with Practice Plan, Suki Singh speaks to John Hume-Spry, Principal Dentist and owner of Delph Dental in Derbyshire, to find out more about his association with Practice Plan. SS: You’ve been with Practice Plan for a very long time, John. Tell us more about how you came to be a Practice Plan customer. JHS: We first got in touch with Practice Plan in about 2005, so before the last new contract. We wanted to look into our options for the future of the practice, because even back then we were sceptical that bei ..read more

As more practices complain of the difficulties of recruiting good staff, dental business coach, Chris Barrow, offers some advice to help overcome them. One of the questions I get from clients a lot is, “What should we say in a job advert? What should we offer in a job advert?” I’m going to start my response by saying that advertising is the wrong place to begin. However, I will outline further on how I think a good job advert should look. But before I do that, I have to stress that advertising is a last resort. Network! I say that because, in an age where people are connected digitally more t ..read more

Mental Health First Aid instructor, Andy Elwood, explains why it’s important to learn to love yourself so you can love others. Love is an emotion that we can feel in many different contexts. We’re obviously thinking a lot about love this month, because it’s February and Valentine’s Day. It’s all over the media, and the commerciality of it all can feel a bit overwhelming. But we can feel love in many different contexts, not just romantic love. It can be with an intimate partner, family bonds, friends, and pets, as well. So, choose what works for you this month. It’s very hard to ignore the mes ..read more

Shaz Memon, founder of Digimax dental marketing agency shares a great recruitment tip that he came across by accident. If your birth year starts with a 19, you will likely remember a world where no one would bat an eyelid if you told them you work all the hours available and make your life ‘fit around work’. It is what I had always seen growing up and something I did without questioning (even though my body often told me otherwise). What changed? We tasted spending proper time with our family, exploring our minds, learning new skills and going on walks we would otherwise never have done. Outs ..read more

Dental business coach, Chris Barrow, offers some advice on the need to increase prices and how to handle the change. I present at a number of different events and workshops for Practice Plan and I have found that over the 26 years that I’ve been doing this, the finance workshops always have the worst turnout without fail. And that’s been consistent all the way through the years. So, if you are running a session on marketing, everybody wants to hear about marketing. If you run a session on the patient journey, everybody’s in. If you’re on a session on leadership, management, how to build a tea ..read more

Happy New Year to you. Let’s tip toe into 2023 without wakening its grumpy brother, 2022, or its long-lost cousin of 2022 and definitely not its evil stepsister, 2020. The first weeks back in any New Year are often a bit ‘meh’ and sometimes include thoughts such as: “Why am I here?” “I need to change my life” “How long until my holiday?” “Yuck! It’s January!” And they’re perfectly normal thoughts for the time of year. It’s cold and wet and the most recent Festive Season turned out to be the Monsoon Season too! These factors, multiplied with what’s going on in this upside-down world, is leav ..read more

It’s no secret that the recruitment and retention of good staff members within dentistry is one of the main problems facing the industry right now. Many practices are involved in a recruitment process of some sort. However, not everyone is aware of the potential legal problems they could face if things aren’t done correctly. Practice Plan Head of Sales, Zoe Close, talks to Employment and HR lawyer, Sarah Buxton, about how to run a recruitment process without the fear of litigation. ZC:  It’s a really interesting topic and it’s one that’s been part of my life when I’ve been working in pra ..read more

As the rise in the cost-of-living shows no signs of abating, many in dentistry are starting to feel the strain. Dental Business Coach, Mark Oborn, offers some suggestions to help people cope better with stress. Stress is definitely one of those things which runs quite high in dentistry. You only have to look at the forums and chat rooms to hear the team, associates and principals all saying the same thing. Some practices are reporting that the cost-of-living crisis is causing a drop in new patient enquiries, and when that’s coupled with the problems of recruitment and retention at the moment ..read more

Practice Plan’s ‘Nourish and Flourish’ Workshop tour is now well underway, and something host, Michael Bentley, believes teams need to be nourished is systems. As Michael himself admits, the mention of the word ‘systems’ can be a little off-putting, but they are essential tools for the smooth running of a practice. There is a quote from the book “Raving Fans” written by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, “What we have are systems. Not rules. Rules create robots. Not systems. Systems are predetermined ways to achieve a result. The emphasis has to be on achieving the result, not the system for t ..read more

There’s no doubt now that the country is in a recession which is predicted to last longer than any other for decades. Are there any steps people can take to help alleviate some of the financial pain we’re in for?  Practice Plan Head of Sales, Zoe Close, spoke to Alan Suggett to see what suggestions he had for dental professionals. ZC:  Although everyone is going to be affected, from what I see, this recession is likely to hit NHS practices harder than private ones as they have so little room to manoeuvre on prices and costs. Do you have any crumbs of comfort for them? AS: If you’re ..read more