About Us

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Our Constitution

1. Overview of the group

The aim of this group is to represent the views of Scottish Dental Practice Owners who are significant stake holders in the delivery of Health care in Scotland and additionally major economic contributors.

The group was set up by Usman Ullah, a general dental practice owner in Glasgow on the 21st March 2020 as forum for the bringing together of Scottish Dental Practice Owners in order to more effectively co-operate with one another, pool resources, exchange information and articulate their views collectively to external parties to assist our country though a very difficult time as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The dental practice owners group and has grown rapidly since then.

2. Remit of the group

  1. The provision of a platform to connect Scottish Dental Practice Owners and to enable the discussion of issues affecting this group. The platform aims to provide a safe and supportive environment where members feel comfortable expressing opinions and concerns.
  1. We intend to use this platform to establish the collective opinion of the membership, around the key issues affecting Scottish Dental Practice at any given time. This should enable the SDPO leadership to adopt a clear and unified position on behalf of the group, in discussions with external agencies like Scottish Government.
  1. We wish to promote change for the betterment of the profession across Scotland. Practices across Scotland and in all communities, should be able to offer modern, high quality healthcare, consistent with that available in other highly developed nations. Scottish Dental Practices should be valued as key contributors to the overall health of the nation and should be afforded the status and funding to reflect this important role. The committee will work to achieve these objectives and our Position Paper will develop these themes further over time.

3. Membership

Membership of the group will be restricted to Scottish Dental Practice Owners.

The sole requirement is that you are a practice owner in Scotland. If there are more than one owner they can all be part of the group even although they own the same Practice. Non dental members can equally be involved in the group.

4. SDPO Committee

The role of the committee is to provide firstly a unifying platform for Scottish dental Practice owners and then to use this platform via its committee members to help articulate and amplify their concerns. It will also act as a body that can be contacted if another organisation/s would wish to do so to get feedback and opinion.

Attendance of Committee meetings will be recorded and the records published annually.

The composition of the committee will be as follows:

The committee will not be Regional with respect to Health Board boundaries but will look to get a broad distribution as possible from the different geographical locations in Scotland.

The main focus will be to have an effective WC that can listen to its members from all regions of Scotland

Size : (n=13)

Ad hoc members may be co-opted onto the Committee for specific agenda items for a limited term (normally not exceeding 12 months).

Each representative will be nominated or elected from SDPO group, with an alternative. To be eligible for nomination the person should be a member of the SDPO and should be proposed and seconded by group members (committee members may act as proposers or seconders). An election only needs to be held if more nominations are received than posts available.

Membership types

Chairperson; a Scottish Dental Practice Owner;

  • Nominations for the chair of SDPO will be sought from the SDPO committee.
  • The chair will be elected by the members of the SDPO committee.
  • The term of office will be two years; the chair shall not serve more than two
  • consecutive terms.

Vice Chair; a Scottish Dental Practice Owner;

  • Nominations for the chair of SDPO will be sought from the SDPO committee.
  • The Vice Chair will be elected by the members of the SDPO committee.
  • The term of office will be two; the Vice Chair shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Secretary; a Scottish Dental Practice Owner;

  • Nominations for the secretary of SDPO will be sought from the SDPO committee.
  • The Secretary will be elected by the members of the SDPO committee.
  • The term of office will be 1 years; Secretary shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Communications Officer; a Scottish Dental Practice Owner;

  • Nominations for the communications officer of SDPO will be sought from the
  • SDPO committee.
  • The communications officer will be elected by the members of the SDPO.
  • The term of office will be 1 years; Communications officer shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Ordinary members

The term of office for all ordinary members will be 1 years, with an option to

renew at the end of the first year; shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Essential criteria of clinical members include;

  • Relevant & current experience in Scottish Dental Practice Ownership.
  • Individual enthusiasm and passion for the subject
  • Contribute to the SDPO Group at a national/ strategic level as well as being able to provide a regional/ local overview

5. Role of Chair

  • To be responsible in ensuring ensure the smooth and harmonious operation and effectiveness of the WC and the its communication with SDPO group along with the Vice Chair.
  • Has the right to remove unaligned/ disengaged members of the WC in order to maintain an effective and harmonious environment for the WC.
  • To be the ‘public face’ of SDPO and promote its activities at every opportunity.
  • To ensure SDPO strategic requirements are supported and developed by the SDPO committee in line with the remit of the constitution.

6. Role of Vice Chair

  • To support the chair in their role
  • To act as the chair in such occasion that the chair cannot be present

7. Term of Office

Committee members may choose to end their term early, and submit their resignation. This should be done in writing to the Secretary. There would be an expected notice period of one month in order to perform an orderly handover of duties. In exceptional circumstances there may be a resignation with immediate effect.

When a vacant place is available on the committee, it must be advertised to all members. It is not the decision of the current committee to elect members directly to these posts. The call may be made and allow nominations to be made in a 28-day period. To be eligible for nomination the person should be a member of the SDPO and should be proposed and seconded by group members (committee members may act as proposers, seconders). An election only needs to be held if more nominations are received than posts available.

8. Meetings

Committee meetings will be held six times a year or bimonthly and will on the first Wednesday of the month.

Each Committee member’s attendance should be at least 3 out of 6 meetings per year.

If a Committee member does not attend the minimal requirement meetings, then their membership will be reviewed by the SDPO Group. If a member

cannot give this commitment to the SDPO Committee, an alternative representative should be found and the committee member asked to step down.

Meetings will normally be held via Zoom platform.

Venues such as dental practices in Scotland may be used. The full

Committee will meet at least four times per year, with other meetings as required.

Notice of a meeting will be decided 1 year in advance.

The Executive of the Committee (Chair, Vice-Chair, Communications

Officer, Secretary,) may meet more frequently, with close communication with the other members of the Committee.

There is a quorum at a general meeting if the number of Members present in person is at least 5 If a quorum cannot be met the committee meeting should be rearranged within one calendar month.

The minutes of the meetings will be sent to the SPDO group within 1 week of the meeting.

9. Voting at Meetings

A resolution at a general meeting will be decided by a show of hands. Every issue is decided by a majority of the votes cast. Every member present has one vote on each issue.

10. Annual General Meetings (AGM)

An Annual General Meeting will be held once a year. This is the opportunity for the Committee to update the group as to the work it has done.

  • Group members must be given 30 days notice of an AGM
  • A list of available Committee positions must be circulated
  • Notice of any proposed constitutional changes must be given.
  • To be quorate, 10% of the current membership of the group must be present.
  • If quorum is not achieved, then no changes to the constitution can be made.

Requests and additions to the agenda should be made in writing to the secretary no less than 10 days before the date of the meeting.

11. Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM)

An EGM may be called by the Committee on application in writing to the Secretary, which is supported by, and bears the signatures of, at least 10% of the members of the club. The date and time of an EGM must be publicised to all of the members at least 5 days in advance. The agenda should be circulated at least 3 days in advance.An EGM may be called when the members wish to:

  • Amend a rule of SDPO.
  • Amend the constitution.
  • Discuss any other important or urgent matters that cannot wait until a committee meeting or AGM (such as retirement of committee members).
  • An EGM may be called with 7 days notice.

12. Records

The secretary will keep proper records of:

  • All resolutions passed otherwise than at an AGM.
  • All proceedings at general and committee meetings
  • All reports of Subcommittees
  • All reports of professional advice obtained

The records must be kept for 10 years from the date of the resolution.

13. Reporting Structure

The Chairperson reports to the Chief Dental Officer within the Civil Service and to Scottish Goverment.

14. Time Limit for Constitution

In view of the fact that this is a new organisation, and the direction may need to be altered reflecting rapid changes in the dental profession, this constitution should be reviewed. The constitution has been written with a 12-month time limit. It is expected that the serving committee at the time will rewrite the constitution to fit current challenges at the time. The time frame for reviewing the constitution is June 2021.

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