Those of you who know me will be aware that over the last few months I have been somewhat preoccupied with the launch of The Clinic. The Clinic has been devised to be a ‘neutral zone’ that enables dental professionals to offer care to patients on a session by session basis.
The Clinic is part of our vision at the Luke Barnett Centre to always deliver the best in the precise art of technical dentistry and assist our clients even further in their pursuit of excellence. The Clinic is an independent, specialist centre that clinicians can use as they choose. We also offer the ability to refer in dental implants to Dr Guy McClellan BDS FDS RCS (Eng) MBBS and Melonie Prebble is offering hygiene and therapy services.
The hard work begins
Anyway, gratuitous plug now over! What a few months it has been. I never knew that it would be quite so much of a full-project to put a fully kitted out dental surgery into my laboratory. I cannot say that the process has not been trying at times – it may surprise you to know that I am a bit of a worrier and boy have I been worrying my way through this!
It has allowed me to walk a few miles in your shoes though, which cannot be a bad thing. If this allows me to understand our dental customers a little better then some good has come of it. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) – I had no idea! I thought that you guys were just whinging about nothing in particular – now I know different. There seems to be an endless succession of hoops to jump through like a performing seal. And, just when you think you have it done, along comes something else to be added to the list and ‘tickboxed’. And it wasn’t just the CQC. There seems to be so much red tape coming from every direction!
Testing times
There were, of course, the usual problems with builders. If I ran the laboratory the way builders work to deadlines, we’d all be out of work inside of a month. For future reference, whenever I am quoted a timeframe for a job by a builder then I will double it and add three weeks.
I have to give a big hand to all of my team for putting up with the process, my mood swings and increased tetchiness!
Anyway, it is all done now and up and running. I would welcome the chance to talk to any of you about The Clinic and would love the opportunity to show you round. Apologies for the slightly self-indulgent nature of this edition of the column – I do feel better having got all this off my chest!
Luke Barnett started his career in technical dentistry in 1976 and after qualifying took a special interest in dental ceramics, setting up his own business in 1985. Luke and his team have established themselves as one of the UK’s most influential ceramic specialists working from his state-of-the-art facility in Watford, Hertfordshire. Luke is also an owner of the Precision Coping Company. Luke is on the editorial board of, Private Dentistry and Premium Practice Dentistry and Luke is also a member of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD). He was the first technician to achieve the levels of excellence required to obtain BACD accreditation and sits on the accreditation board of examiners. He is also a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. His laboratory was voted Private Dentistry Laboratory of the Year in 2010 and 2011 and was a member of the judging panel in 2012.
