BDJ In Practice spoke to Dr Anusha Patel, Head of Clinical Development at Bupa Dental Care, about the clinical and career development opportunities a corporate structure provides

How do clinical and career development differ within a corporate structure compared to an independent provider?

AP I'm a clinician and have worked in both sectors for a number of years, and it still makes me smile when people ask what differences there are between the two - for me, it's about high-quality dentistry delivered to the patient, as it should be.

The differences don't lie in the output or the outcome for the patient, but in the structure and setup. Healthcare systems play a key role in that collaboration, and we want to work together to deliver innovations in technology and build that pipeline of skilled professionals who can focus on delivering the hands-on care their patients want and need, safe in the knowledge they've got us behind them.

Clinicians can make a bigger impact with Bupa because we have several different business areas, allowing them to expand and broaden their horizons. Clinical and career development in that setting and with that scale has several benefits - peer-to-peer learning as a prime example. We have different specialists across each site and across the organisation, so you can access all those individuals, have those interactions, pick their brains and learn from them. For example, at Bupa, we practise and encourage collaboration across healthcare sectors. Take our work in care homes; we work with staff to provide oral health advice for residents and medics to provide basic training, and it's not just a one-way street. There's a growing number of NHS initiatives where dental practices can take blood pressure, so some basic training for our dentists from our medical teams, can go a long way for patients.

The structure also allows for what I think is sustained career development. We have more than 360 practices nationwide, and that wealth of access to non-clinical roles and developing an individual's knowledge of the commercial aspects of dentistry can really help to produce a higher level of well-rounded clinicians, rather than perhaps learning these skills on the job.

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Do these systems, structures and pathways have the potential to produce better, well-rounded clinicians?

AP I think that would be a fair assessment, yes. We all know dentistry is struggling with recruitment and retention issues.

What we're noticing is clinicians want a varied career - they don't want to be on the treadmill of being in the same practice treating patients day after day. Millennials and Gen Z want different things from life and their careers compared to the generations of dentists before them, so as a business we need to be alive to these changes and adapt.

Our focus is to help clinicians develop that broad range of skills to enable them to deliver better outcomes for patients while retaining high levels of job satisfaction. An example would be the launch of our new state-of-the-art training facility, dedicated to supporting innovation and professional development, not just in dentistry, but across healthcare disciplines. We want to demonstrate we're supporting and addressing the national workforce challenges, promoting the best techniques through the latest technologies, and now we're able to do that with this facility.

It's not just the physical academy we're developing these clinicians through. We've launched an online platform with several bite-size videos designed to inform, educate and guide. We've designed them to be practical in a way that's easy to understand and access. It's not always possible for a busy dental nurse, for example, to take time out, sit in front of a computer, login and access the information they need. By looking at an app or video through our portal, they can access that information straight away in practice.

What preconceptions and myths are there surrounding these areas within corporate dentistry?

AP I always say there's a power of three here. The myths I hear are that corporates limit clinical autonomy, are slow to implement change and have less flexibility in working patterns. The truth is very different.

From a personal experience, I worked in an independent practice acquired by Bupa Dental Care, and those fears kicked in. I thought I'm going to have to leave, but my manager said ‘give it a year and see how it goes'. I found I did have that clinical autonomy, as long as I was adhering to our professional standards and delivering quality care. I found my own development expanding through support with business and supplier relationships, too, which is a great asset to have. We have the Clinical Development Advance programme which financially supports clinicians on a particular course they want to go on.

When we talk about implementing change, I often think people outside of corporate dentistry believe the structure is like a cake with layer upon layer upon layer before you even get to the person who can provide an answer. We empower our practice managers to make those decisions and take responsibility rather than kicking them down the road.

The same ethos applies to flexible working. This is the way the profession is moving and changing, and we don't discourage that - far from it. We want to support what's right for our clinicians, and if that means flexible working patterns, brilliant.

It's only right to acknowledge challenges - what are these, and how can they/are they overcome?

AP As I've mentioned, dentistry and the entire healthcare sector is struggling with ongoing workforce problems. Estimates put the shortage of dentists around 2,500, which is crazy when universities are delivering 100-200 dentists per dental school per year, so a better understanding of where the shortage stems from would be of huge help. It's not like we're not producing enough dentists, or we've not got enough ORE applications coming in; it's really about whether they have got the skillset to be that well-rounded clinician the profession needs from day one. And truth of the matter is you're not going to get that from day one.

We recognise these problems and are heavily investing in the training and upskilling of our workforce, because we know clinical development is one area that can help to address the shortage and meet the needs of the population. Whether you're a dental hygienist, dental therapist or a dental nurse, we want to unlock that knowledge and potential to benefit the wider oral healthcare team and our patients.

What patterns are you seeing in the development of the future workforce?

AP One trend I'm seeing is that a dentist is not just a dentist anymore. Clinicians are branching out into non-clinical spaces. In my practice alone I have two clinicians with businesses outside of dentistry, so it's a completely different model and way of working compared to what's come before it. That's where the business development acumen gained through a corporate structure can be of wider value.

Technology and the introduction of AI is another development and trend we're hearing lots about. It is massively changing how practitioners can work; AI radiography, AI record keeping, AI remote consultations are all becoming par for the course, and as a result require new ways of working.

What questions should practitioners ask themselves before venturing into the world of corporate dentistry?

AP Corporate dentistry is still dentistry! It's delivering excellent patient care while supporting your development throughout your career. The key is finding models that align with your goals, values and ambitions. ◆

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