Nov 11, 2022
Welcome to our Autumn missive.
It feels like a long time ago since I wrote in June about enjoying occasional summer weather - my how that changed and what a summer it was. Hopefully, all the gardens have now recovered. Mine is still blooming in spots with the mild Autumn.
So, what has been happening at Gentle Dental over the summer?
As you know Lucy departed for pastures new in July and seems to be thriving. She is enjoying being around a lot more for her son Rowan thought missing the team and her banter with all you lovely clients. You are likely also aware that Victoria decided not to return after her maternity leave. She is running her own cake baking business (as is Lucy) and is looking after her 2 little girls.
While Victoria was on maternity leave I have been managing the team and the 'behind the scenes' element of the practice, keeping it ticking over is a more accurate description. When she decided not to return I was rather stumped. Thankfully Jodie, who has been with us for 3 years, has stepped into the breach and is taking on all of these duties.
We have a new reception team member, Laura. She joined us in June and is learning the ropes well. Having left school the year before she was at a bit of a loss to know what to do but has taken to this like a duck to water.
Pre Lockdowns we were recruiting for staff and post we just managed as trying to train new team members while learning new systems ourselves seems too much of a mountain to climb. Over the last 18 months we worked at building the team again and now all of the newer team members have completed a year with us. I'm not sure how well you have gotten to know them as a lot of the time we were all completely covered in PPE. I've got so many clients who comment that they never knew till now what I looked like.
The newer team members are Anu - trainee nurse who is sitting her exams in April 2023, Taryn - reception, Rachael - qualified nurse and Karenn - dental therapist. And of course we still have Kat - long term locum. We keep trying to talk her into taking on a permanent position with us but she likes doing her won thing too much. The team has really gelled which is always so nice for us all and I think it creates a nicer environment for you when you visit us.
Rob and I of course are still here. It looks a bit like we will go down with the ship, as it were!
We seem to have gone from famine to feast when it comes to socialising having had 2 days out in a very short space of time.
We had a ‘staff day out’ in September when we went to Salisbury races. And I can definitely say ‘fun was had by all’. Several of the team had never been to the races (and in my case only once before). I’m sure we kept many people amused as we tried to figure out how to bet, how much to bet and even where to place a bet. Howe green were we! One chap obviously recognised us as novices (I wonder how!), took pity on us and showed us the ‘magic page’ at the beginning of the program which gave us a clue about who was expected to win the race, and who the likely surprise might be. Thus armed, and on his advice using the TOTE (£2 bet), we got into the spirit. Several of the girls walked away ‘up’ on money so were very pleased with themselves.
In early October we went to the Dental Showcase, an industry event where anyone who is anyone in the supply world lays out their wares. This was held in Excel London and looking at the journey we decided to drive part way and train the rest. Thus, we drove to Weybridge and took the train from there. This caused much excitement as several of the team had never been on the DLR and none of us had been on the Elisabeth line. So even the journey was fun and we had a great day at the showcase.
You may remember that we had decided to embark on a walking challenge, 100k in 24 hours. This was meant to happen in May and was postponed due to illness and Rob having covid. We rearranged for early September but pulled out due to the heat. My Irish skin and body does not cope well with heat so walking 10 hours each day over a weekend to train just didn’t happen. 23-25 degrees is a heat wave in Ireland so the temperatures here meant I did little at the weekends other than sit in the shade.
We have rebooked for May 23 and will be undertaking the original challenge of the Jurassic coast. More news on training etc will follow in the Spring but I’m pretty confident that temperatures in the Spring should allow for the training. Training starts in earnest in February and we will keep you posted on training. Fingers crossed we actually make it this time!
We are doing the walk to raise funds for our chosen charity for this year which is Hope for Tomorrow. The charity raises funds for mobile cancer treatment units which means patients don;t need to travel daily to Southampton and can be closer to home. Our local one is called Kayleigh which is currently out of service being refurbished so hopefully the funds raised will assist with that.
I hope to get back to doing more regular blogs now Jodie is taking over some of the duties so I hope to be in touch with more updates in the next month or so
Keep well and safe
Niamh. Rob and the Gentle Dental team