​As part of an on-going focus on pay and benefits for colleagues, Bupa Dental Care has announced a pay rise for its dental nurses.

As the UK’s second largest dental provider, the change will benefit over 2,000 colleagues.

The move comes as part of a wider focus to improve the offer to colleagues across the business following Bupa’s acquisition of Oasis in 2017, including work to develop career pathways and progression opportunities for staff across the business.

Speaking of the changes Gabriela Pueyo, General Manager, Bupa Dental Care UK said: “This is an exciting time to be part of Bupa Dental Care. We’ve been working hard to improve our offer to colleagues, and I’m delighted that we’re seeing these changes come to fruition.

“Our nurses are central to the success of our practices, and these changes recognise them for the professionals that they are. It’s not only the pay we’re focusing on though as we’re continuing to offer apprenticeships and training opportunities to help our colleagues thrive within the business.”

Bupa currently employs over 2,000 dentists and 5,000 practice staff – including more than 2,700 dental nurses. Around 500 of these nurses are either on apprenticeships or training on the job and it continues to encourage further nurses to apply. As of this Spring, it has also announced plans to expand apprenticeships into clinical leadership and lab technician roles to give even further choice for colleagues.

As well as progression opportunities, Bupa dental nurses enjoy a range of other employment benefits including funded Continuing Professional Development, General Dental Council registration, professional indemnity insurance and generous pension contributions.

At the same time as announcing the pay increase for nurses, Bupa Dental Care has also launched a formal Practice Manager induction. The four-week programme will deliver in-depth training in all areas of managing a practice – from finance to team management – while also pairing new colleagues with dedicated senior contacts within the business, helping ensure they have the skills and support to succeed in their new roles.

The new induction sits alongside Bupa Dental Care’s Practice Manager Academy, which helps identify talent within practices, before providing in-depth training to fast-track colleagues into management roles.

Gabriela Pueyo continues: “It’s essential that we’re providing colleagues with all the training they need, not only so that we can deliver for patients, but so they can progress their own careers with Bupa too.

“This is just the beginning of our work in this area. We’ve got lots more planned, like developing robust career pathways for our nurses and other professionals, so we can attract the best talent and be known as the no.1 place to build your career in dental.”

As a minimum Bupa will pay all its dental nurses, including student nurses and apprentices, regardless of age, the National Living Wage for over 25s (£8.21) This means a nurse under 18 will earn nearly double the £4.35 hourly government baseline. Qualified nurses will see their pay rise from £8.25 to £9.10 per hour. Nurses can also earn more as they broaden their skills, earn qualifications and progress into lead nurse or other clinical roles.

Across the UK, Bupa Dental Care is on a drive to recruit over 100 nurses and around 20 practice managers. For details on these vacancies, as well as other dental career opportunities, please visit: jobs.bupadentalcare.co.uk.

Bupa Dental Care is committed to the UK dental industry for the long-term – both for private and NHS patients. It is the only corporate dental provider in the UK not backed by private equity.

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