Christopher Holden has been appointed an Honarary Clinical Teacher in the Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry at The Dental Institute, King's College London. The department is situated in a high rise building close to London Bridge known to many as Guy's Hospital.
Christopher says of this post: " I am delighted to be working with one of the foremost university departments in pain and anxiety control for dentistry in the Europe. King's College London has a progressive and patient outcome oriented approach which mirrors our primary care service. I look forward to collaborating with the university in training post graduate clinicians in advanced sedation techniques."
Our Practice Manager Denise Harcourt graduated on the 22nd November with a Cert HE Dental Practice Management awarded by the Health & Social Care Faculty at Sheffield Hallam University.
This new qualification aims to provided healthcare managers with the contemporary theoretical knowledge, skills and business techniques they require to be successful in general practice.
This together with 19 years experience working in dental practice both as an RDN and Practice Manager means that Denise is well placed to ensure our practice meets all legal, regulatory and ethical best practice requirements and is also able to lead and develop our team to ensure an excellent standard of care for all of our patients.
Well done Deni!
Jade joined the practice in August as a Trainee Dental Nurse. Competition for trainee placements has risen dramatically recently as more young people look towards practical and vocational lifestyles substituting the uncertainty of university education. She was the succesful candidate from over a hundred applicants.At our practice new recruits are entered into a career pathway from the start. Jade is already working towards internally assessed competencies .
The practice was inspected and assessed on Wednesday 9th November for Denplan's Excel status. This is considered by many to be the gold standard of clinical governance for dental practices. Few practices achieve this standard. We are pleased to learn that in all sections the practice scored well above the national average within this select group.
Our Trainee Dental Nurse (TDN) Abbeygail has just begun formal training at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital and will be working towards the new Diploma In Dental Nursing over the next two years. This Diploma replaces the National Examination for Dental Nurses.
TDNs are required to have worked in a practice for at least six months before they can begin this formal course of training. The Diploma combines part-time teaching at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital with in-surgery teaching and mentoring by our Dental Surgeons and Registered Dental Nurses. (RDNs)
Abbeygail will be required to complete a portfolio of evidence relating to all aspects of patient care and clinical dentistry and then pass a series of practical and theoretical examinations at the Dental Hospital.
On completion of the Diploma, Dental Nurses can then register with the General Dental Council as RDNs.
Following a course of training with the Society for The Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry (SAAD) and completion of in-house training and a portfolio of case studies, two of our Registered Dental Nurses have successfully passed the National Examination Board for Dental Nurses Postgraduate Examination in Dental Sedation Nursing, which they sat at the Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital in London.
Leanne Hilton and Nicola Webb both joined the practice as Trainee Dental Nurses. They initially worked towards the National Cetificate for Dental Nurses and, after qualifying, joined the General Dental Council as Registered Dental Nurses (RDNs).
The Certificate In Dental Sedation Nursing is designed to give RDNs the specialist knowledge, skills and empathy they need to assist the dentist when sedating patients and to care for, monitor and reassure anxious patients from initial examination and assessment right through to the sedation appointment itself, completion of treatment and then discharge home.
Our team is very proud of Leanne and Nicola and their latest achievement reflects their hard work and dedication to furthering their knowledge, career development and most of all caring for patients.
Well done girls!
Following our refurbishment we have also re-designed our practice website. Using a similar colour scheme to our new decor we hope the new website will prove useful to our clients. We will keep our news area up to date so you know what's going on at Christopher Holden and Associates.
A new practice management software system has been launched in Spring 2011. The new system ensures that patient digital x-ray pictures and digital photographs are stored directly into individual patient notes.
Accompanying this is a sophisticated treatment planning tool whereby further explanations of treatment options can be given to patients in graphical form making treatment choice easier to understand.
The business management package should allow patients more flexibility in appointment making and increased efficiency.
