Deborah Bell talks to Lisa Guthrie about her move from dental nurse to practice manager and how extra support helped her…
The journey from dental nurse to practice manager is the road well-travelled. It’s the route which many practice managers take and, indeed, it was the one I took while working in practice. Taking on a new position with different responsibilities can be a challenging transition, and has been something I have supported others through as part of my role as a Business Development Consultant (BDC) with DPAS.
One of those people was Lisa Guthrie, Practice Manager at Shotley Bridge Dental Care. A former Dental Nurse at the mixed NHS and private practice in Durham, Lisa has embraced and excelled in her current role and last year was awarded Special Recognition as runner up for the Practice Manager of the Year in the ADAM awards.
I asked Lisa to share her story of taking over the practice’s management and how support from a third party helps her:
Lisa: ‘At the time I became Practice Manager, the business was moving premises to a larger building which enabled us to add an extra third surgery – we’re now up to five. We had also recently moved plan provider to DPAS, due to the savings we could make financially and the flexibility they offered to tailor plans – so there were a lot of changes happening at once.
‘I was completely new to what’s involved in the practice management side of things, and I was taking over everything from compliance to the accounts. Fortunately, because we had moved to DPAS it meant that Deborah, my local BDC, was there to support me from the start.
‘With her background in dentistry and her relationships with other local practices she could help with any queries, or tell me how other practices managed situations, which was really helpful and still is. We’ve taken this one step further recently by setting up a practice managers’ meeting, where we discuss lots of issues such as compliance software, which actually helped me to make a decision about our own provider.
‘She also helped us to introduce diary zoning for our NHS and private patients. Managing a mixed practice is a balancing act between providing the right type of service for both patients. By zoning appointments we were able to make sure our private patients weren’t waiting as long, and it is easier for the dentists to manage clinically.
‘Working with Deborah has meant that I not only have access to her knowledge and experience, but also that of all the practice managers she supports and her contacts in dentistry. She introduced us to Ashley Latter a few years ago, which led to the entire practice taking one of his courses and our dentists still work with him now, which has helped to improve our confidence in selling.
‘I feel like she’s another member of the team which helps to ease my workload. For example, whenever I feel we need some training, either for new staff or as a refresher, I know I can just call her and she’ll come into the practice and take care of it – which is one less thing for me to worry about!
‘As an external, fresh pair of eyes she also helps us to see things that we might miss day-to-day, such as having out-of-date leaflets or posters. They’re only little things but they add up and affect the impression you make as a practice, so it helps to have an additional person helping us stay on top of these things.
‘Having an additional support was a huge help when I was just beginning my role as a practice manager, and over a decade later, it continues to be so. It’s an ever-changing, and potentially isolated role so working with someone dedicated to helping you succeed can make all the difference’.
