After hosting a roundtable to launch the Consumer Oral Health Survey, Catherine Rutland delights at the positivity in the room.
After such a difficult two years for the profession, it was great to host a roundtable to launch our Consumer Oral Health Survey at Twickenham face to face.
Even better was the overarching feedback from the delegates after the event. They commented on how wonderful it was to hear the positivity in the room.
There were tough messages delivered around the oral health of the nation. However, the positivity around how we can work to address some of the issues was great to hear.
Most of the delegates were GDPs and having that practice-based lens felt really important for the content of the survey.
Looking at trends in oral care and children’s oral health and also the reasons people attend can be fascinating when viewed from a patient’s perspective.
An important insight that is so important for us to know and understand.
Hearing these views made me realise how much I have missed that open face to face discussion.
There was real trust in the room to be honest. They knew that they would be listened to and their views considered.
Even having journalists from the industry in the room and a photographer bobbing around did not distract anyone from the conversation!
At the heart was care for patients. However, there was also care for the development of the profession and how we support our teams and keep the right people in the profession.
Passion drives the profession
Time flew and it is always hard to be the chair who has to curb such brilliant discussion. In some ways we felt we had only just got started!
Another positive of meeting face to face was that we could carry on our thoughts and discussions in smaller conversations as we talked afterwards, and expand into other areas.
It felt like we can start to move out from under the cloud and start to consider the future, the energy in the room gave that hope.
These were GDPs who are so passionate about what they do and how they care for their patients and teams.
With so much negativity around, we must always remember that there are many GDPs who feel this passion and embrace and nurture it.
If that passion can be united, we can drive the profession forward with power and integrity.
Read more Core Strengths columns from Catherine Rutland
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