So life has been quite turbulent for many over the past few months:
- The passing of the Queen
- The Ukraine crisis
- The price of electricity and cost of living
- The new prime minister
- The price of sterling
The above are just to name a few. Sometimes I feel reading the newspapers and watching the media almost creates too much of a fear-mongering attitude among the population. This is not to say the aforementioned problems are not hugely important or not be taken seriously but it is difficult these days to know what is the truth and what is hyperbole.
Nonetheless how does this affect dentistry? Well, here is a small list of a few things:
- Employing and keeping good staff is becoming increasingly difficult and with Brexit and COVID it only makes it harder.
- Our rates and bills are increasing at an alarming rate with no relief.
- The cost of dental materials and equipment especially those from abroad are becoming more expensive with import fees and the low value of sterling.
- Servicing and maintaining the clinic is becoming much tougher, especially to not only maintain current levels but deal with increasing demands.
- Our continued education and courses to maintain our skills are becoming dearer and require more travelling to get to.
We are doing everything we can as a small business to keep our prices as they are and still maintain our high level of service but it feels like a tough balancing act sometimes. We are especially sensitive to many people who have told us about redundancies and increasing costs of living. The reality is that we MUST maintain our high levels of quality and keep our fantastic staff as we are a business that families and lives depend on too.
I think all one can do is try their best and I was once told "if you look after people, they will look after you". The truth is, this has always been at the heart of the practice and we hope that our patrons appreciate how hard we work for them to deliver excellence for them.
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