‘There is no place like dentistry’

Saturday 20 November saw the welcome return of the Society of British Dental Nurses (SBDN) annual conference. Originally planned as an in-person event in Birmingham, the conference unfortunately had to be moved online due to coronavirus – however, this did not hinder the quality of the lectures or dampen the spirits of the attendees. With a full day of educational and informative talks and six hours of ECPD up for grabs, the conference promised to deliver.

After a warm welcome from Fiona Ellwood, the society’s president and executive director, the conference began with a talk on complaint handling from Lee Bennett, the strategic complaints lead at NHS England. Lee provided an understanding of the current regulations surrounding complaints in England, as well as some valuable tips and advice. Some of the key points Lee made were: the importance of checking with patients whether their complaint is indeed a formal complaint or just feedback (and to use this as an opportunity to promote feedback); the need to consider having a deputy complaints manager if the personal who usually handles complaints is away from the practice in order to comply with response times; the use of the ‘sad but glad’ approach; and the need to make it clear to a patient that their care won’t be compromised because they have complained.