How the pandemic helped make our practice stronger

Regional Support Manager, Ian Eslick, caught up with Penryn Dental Practice’s Practice Manager, Nadine Francis, to look back at the impact of the pandemic and how it has made their team much stronger…

IE: Hi Nadine, it’s been 17 months now since the country went into its first lockdown. Can you recall what things were like for the practice and how you were feeling when the doors had to shut?

NF: When that first lockdown hit it was a huge worry for us financially, and for all practices because it was something we hadn’t planned for and hadn’t been through before.

I recall having a meeting in January and we were all saying that it was impacting elsewhere, and we would be fine, but then before we knew it, we were into lockdown.

It was scary for all of us because we have always seen the practice as a strong business, but when lockdown hit, we saw strong businesses going out of business through absolutely no fault of their own.

It was beyond their control so seeing it happening was frightening, not just for us, but for all practices. Another thing we found tough was not being able to care for people, because that’s what we were used to doing every day.

We spent a lot of time calling patients, giving them advice over the phone and talking to them. However, it was difficult not being able to do our jobs and see them in practice.

IE: We saw practices re-open back in June last year and since then we have been on the road back to some sort of normality. What lessons have you learned from those uncertain three months last year when you were closed?

NF: I’d say the first lesson we learned was to never take anything for granted. The business was strong and in 30 years I’ve never been worried that my job could be at risk, but then something like this happens and you do worry about everything. So, I won’t be taking things for granted again.

The other lesson we have learned, and I think a lot of practices would have learned, is the power of communication and how important it is with patients and staff.

Throughout the pandemic we were in contact with our patients, talking to them and explaining what we can and can’t do, and when they could expect changes.  We would email an informative letter every couple of weeks, no social media gimmicks. That helped put their minds at ease and it gave them a clearer picture in such an uncertain time.  The feedback from patients has been phenomenal, they felt they were on the journey with us and knew that despite not being able to physically attend the practice we still were there to care for them.

We did hear from a lot of patients that have joined the practice in recent months, who have told us that their previous practice hadn’t been in touch with them at all during the pandemic, which surprised us, because communication had been absolutely key to us.

IE: Do you think the practice and the team are stronger having been through a tough time?

NF: Yes, I would say that we are all 100 per cent stronger having had to go through that period of uncertainty last year.

For example, staff have always had to wear PPE in the surgery because we work in an infection controlled environment, however they have had to work with layers of it for months, it is both physically and mentally draining and it has been like nothing they’ve ever experienced.

It has put a big strain on staff in terms of how busy we were when we re-opened, and that came on the back of the uncertainty I was talking about. I think when you go through a tough period, then it will lead to you becoming stronger because of what you’ve had to experience.

IE: We’ve been hearing from a lot of practices who have reported a rise in patient numbers since they were allowed to re-open. Have you seen much of a rise in enquiries and patients?

IE: Yes, we have been inundated with new enquiries for quite a while now – it has been crazy. New patients are coming to us, and they are just so grateful they are able to receive treatment. Things have just got so busy, so we really have enjoyed a period of growth. It has been exhausting, but at the same time it has been all really positive compared to how things were in March last year.