The weeks since New Year have seen huge strides being taken in the vaccination rollout, with dental personnel stepping forward in significant numbers to bolster the growing army of vaccinators.
Inductions have been held across the country making it relatively simple for people to sign up, early adopters faced a complex barrier of red tape and box ticking but these were swiftly trimmed back by a government desperate not to fall behind in the “race” to vaccinate.
So far so good.... a high proportion of the most vulnerable in society have already been immunised with a first dose and dentists along with other dental staff members have been in the thick of the action.
The silver cloud society has been waiting for seems to have arrived.
Before we get carried away though.... it’s worth remembering that even silver clouds can cast shadows and in the past fortnight these have begun darkening the dental involvement in the vaccination process.
Practice owners have been reporting increasing incidence of staff requesting time off to attend induction sessions. In some cases it seems some have even called in sick to do this.
Once accredited as ‘vaccinators’ an increasing number of staff appear to be considering a career change, some temporary but others looking like permanent move out of dentistry. More flexible working and a remuneration that many practices cannot match seem likely to be the driving force rather an altruistic desire to help out society.
Perhaps that is taking a slightly cynical view but I guess more than three decades in general practice does tend to remove ones rose coloured glasses! Disputes regarding the rates of remuneration have also unsurprisingly broken out, mainly involving general nursing staff rather than dental nursing staff at present. It does beg the valid question though, how long will GDP vaccinators be required at £230 a session when health boards are taking on dental nurses and in my case an ex-nurse at £40 a session, not long I suspect.
Few practices can afford to lose experienced staff in whom they have invested a lot of time, no little money and possibly most importantly, trust. So is this a threat we need to be taking more seriously?
It’s probably hard to say just yet but being aware of this potential black lining in the silver cloud is certainly prudent for all practice owners.
The author of this article has preferred to remain anonymous.