The Business of Dentistry Podcast

Nigel Jones, Director at Practice Plan Group, is joined by Mike Blenkharn, Partner and Head of Dental at UNW LLP, to discuss the rising costs for dental practices and improving profitability.

What you’ll hear:

• Impact of latest budget on NHS and private dental practices
• Impact on staff and recruitment
• Exit strategies
• Benchmarking and financial performance
• Increasing revenue.

Katrina James, Area Manager at Practice Plan, is joined by Louise Anderson, Regional Support Manager at Practice Plan, to look at the current dental landscape in Wales and common issues practices are facing.

What you’ll hear:

• Overview of the current landscape
• How NHS dentistry operates in Wales
• Knock on effects of trying to reach targets
• Recruitment and retention issues
• Conditions for 6% pay uplift for NHS dentists
• Additional costs to staffing
• Increase in partial conversions to Private dentistry.

Hazel Dockery from Practice Plan is joined by Hannah Burrow and Jay Shah, Founders of Kiroku, to discuss the ethical side of AI and what to consider when implementing it into your business.

What you’ll hear:

• What defines Ai
• Some of the biggest misconceptions
• How Ai has improved efficiency or decision making in practice
• The ethical challenges around Ai
• How can practices ensure their data practices are secure and responsible
• Thoughts on future technologies or advancements.

To find out more visit https://www.trykiroku.com/

Donna Hall, Regional Support Manager at Practice Plan shares her top tips for attracting new and existing patients to your membership plan.

What you’ll hear:

• How to communicate plan benefits to new and existing patients
• Common concerns from patients about joining a plan
• Importance of the patient journey and involving the clinicians. 

Wesleyan Financial Services Regional Manager for Dental, Simon Cosgrove, talks to Chris Nicholson, Regional Support Manager for Practice Plan about the impact of the October 2024 budget and how practices can mitigate rising costs by reviewing their plan fees.

This podcast is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Please bear in mind that advice in relation to inheritance tax planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in future. Bear in mind that the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest.

Practice Plan Limited is an introducer appointed representative of Wesleyan Financial Services Limited. Practice Plan Limited (Registered in England and Wales No. 03089948) is a part of the Wesleyan Group. Registered office: Cambrian Works, Gobowen Road, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1HS Telephone number: 01691 684120. Website: www.practiceplan.co.uk.

Wesleyan Financial Services Ltd (Registered in England and Wales No. 1651212) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: Colmore Circus, Birmingham B4 6AR. Telephone: 0345 351 2352. Calls may be recorded to help us provide, monitor and improve our services to you.

Charges may apply. Learn more about our charges at Wesleyan.co.uk/charges.

In the second episode of our brand-new series, “In the Loupe”, Nigel Jones, Director at Practice Plan Group sits down with Paul Graham, Managing Director of Medical team at Christie & Co, to discuss the current state of the dental practice sales market.

What you’ll hear:

• Trends over the last few years 
• Growth in smaller corporate groups
• Focus on quality of sites rather than quantity
• The impact of the National Insurance hike for employers
• Rising costs and other challenges
• Valuations of practices with NHS contracts.

Hazel Dockery catches up with Gemma Starkey, otherwise known as Miss Social, to talk about Instagram and how to best use the social media platform.

What you’ll hear:

• Introduction to Gemma
• Benefits of Instagram and its demographics
• Follow local accounts and attractions
• Potential pitfalls
• Different types of content
• Benefits of having an annual content calendar.

To find out more visit https://www.misssocial.co.uk/

Hazel Dockery from Practice Plan catches up with Fiona Elwood, Executive Director at the Society of British Dental Nurses, to discuss feeling safe at work and ways to improve psychological safety in practice.

What you’ll hear:

• Overview of Fiona’s career
• Definition of psychological safety and the benefits
• How to implement in practice
• Having a psychological safety champion
• Consequences of low psychological safety
• Impact on the business and the team
• Active listening.

Donna Hall, Regional Support Manager at Practice plan is joined by Jane Mead, Finance Director at Elegant Smiles, to discuss their journey of multiple NHS conversions and the benefits of moving their group of practices to one plan provider.

What you’ll hear:

• Elegant Smiles' conversion journey
• Transitioning four practices from NHS to private
• The benefits for the business, team and patients
• Life in practice now.

Introducing our brand-new series, “In the Loupe.” In this first episode, Nigel Jones, Director at Practice Plan Group sits down with Eddie Crouch, Chair of the BDA, to explore predictions for the future of dentistry in 2025.

What you’ll hear:

• Key milestones for 2025
• Workforce problems
• NHS dentistry tie-in for graduates.