Estimated read time: 5 mins
This edition of Riskwise is wide-ranging. It covers aspects of our daily dentistry practice that relate to our social interaction with patients and those that stem from our struggles with clinical outcomes.
Raj Rattan’s article is particularly timely. Hot on the heels of the NZDA’s Wellbeing Hub (launched in August at the NZDA Conference 2023), he presents a brief commentary on the ‘professional mood’ and on ‘happiness’. Raj suggests that happiness, wellbeing, and the quality of professional life are closely related concepts. He also highlights some relevant data from the 2017 NZDA study into New Zealand dentists’ wellbeing.1
The more recent 2022 survey of NZDA members provides a fascinating insight into the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on New Zealand dentist wellbeing.2 It makes a number of alarming findings.
The NZDA research pinpoints negative patient interactions, perceived mistakes, and their potential to spur a formal complaint as significant sources of stress and anxiety.2 The Dental Council of New Zealand process is repeatedly referred to as one of the most stressful experiences in a dentist’s career. The stressor with the highest incidence was the impact of complaints. Some 69% of dentists were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ affected by negative feedback or a formal complaint.
The NZDA report also helps us to understand why dentists feel so stressed by complaints. Two comments resonated with the feelings that dentists have regularly expressed to us at Dental Protection related to mistakes and complaints.
From the report:2
Over the past year, Dental Protection has assisted over 400 of our NZ members to navigate outcomes related to patient complaints. These have included direct interactions between our member and the patient, and escalations that required an interaction between our member and either the Health and Disability Commissioner, Dental Council, Health Practitioner Disciplinary Tribunal, Disputes Tribunal, ACC, District and High Courts, or within the NZDA’s own patient/dentist mediation process.
Without a doubt, this NZDA survey details the stresses we see daily among our Dental Protection members.
Patient or practitioner-to-practitioner complaints, and the process that follows, can be highly impactful on members, particularly when they concern serious matters or hit at a time when other life events (family/relationship breakdown, alcohol/drug addictions, financial pressures, etc) are also impacting.
In addition to support, dentolegal advice and, when necessary, legal representation, Dental Protection also offer access to confidential counselling with psychologists.
I can say that as dentists ourselves (hugely experienced in dentolegal advice and support), and with access to what I believe is the very best legal advice and representation, we try our absolute best to be of assistance and are there to assist you in each step.
It’s important to notify us at the outset of a problem.
The best outcome relies on the best first response.
Nga mihi
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© 2023 The Medical Protection Society Limited.
Dental Protection Limited is registered in England (No. 2374160) and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Medical Protection Society Limited (MPS) which is registered in England (No. 00036142). Both companies use Dental Protection as a trading name and have their registered office at Level 19, The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9SG. Dental Protection Limited serves and supports the dental members of MPS with access to the full range of benefits of membership, which are all discretionary, and set out in MPS’s Memorandum and Articles of Association.