Sustainable Dental Business Award

The winner will be a practice that has a firm commitment to operating a sustainable business, and has taken steps to examine every area of its environmental footprint. They will be able to describe the actions taken and provide evidence of their commitments. The winning practice should also offer excellent clinical dentistry in a great environment. This should also be evidenced in the entry.

Entrants should cover the following in their submission:

• Why being a sustainable business is important to them. Why are they committed to this?
• How have they set the tone from the top, and infused their commitments into the culture of the business?
• How do they organise themselves to deliver on their sustainability commitments? How do their commitments filter into aspects such as procurement, waste management, decision making, communications?
• How have they sought to engage with patients and staff over their sustainability commitments?

Specifics:

• Single-Use – describe how you have sought to reduce single-use plastics and other materials in the practice, outside of HTM-0105 requirements.
• Waste management – explain your approach to managing waste and how you minimise clinical and landfill waste
• Carbon Footprint & Emissions – 65% of your carbon footprint is travel. Explain how you have sought to minimise your carbon emissions through travel policy, initiatives and energy usage.
• Management – explain who manages the sustainability and environmental aspects of the practice, how they are empowered and what they do.
• Consumption – explain how you seek to reduce the consumption of natural resources, power etc.
• Biodiversity – describe how you have used your grounds or window boxes/planters to encourage biodiversity and support insect and bird life.
• Infrastructure and Buildings – describe how you have integrated sustainability into decisions on building refurbishments, equipment purchase etc.
• Communication – explain how you have shared your commitment to sustainability with your patients and staff.

Team of the Year

To give your team the best chance to be recognised, simply send up to 750 words demonstrating any, or a combination, of the following elements:
• Demonstrate a great team atmosphere and approach to patient care
• How does your practice invest in team development and training?
• How you are different to the competition?
• Show where your team goes above and beyond the regular duty of care
• Provide evidence of connection with the local community or charity
• Must include an image of the team

Patient Care

• Demonstrate a great team approach to patient care
• Show us how you are different to a regular practice
• Clinical photography should be an essential part of your submission
• Include examples of clinical excellence
• Provide patient literature
• Include an image of the practice
• How you go above and beyond regular care
• Provide credible and relevant testimonials
• Supporting evidence and pictures are welcome.

Practice of the Year

• Evidence of uniqueness in your practice and how you go beyond the regular duty of care
• Evidence of team leadership/happiness
• Marketing literature
• How you connect with the local community
• Examples of clinical excellence (eg before and after pictures)
• Team training/development information
• Pictures/videos of your practice
• Patient testimonials
• Include an image of the practice
• Multiple practices must enter each practice separately.

Team Members – Nurse, Hygienists, Therapist, Technicians, Practice Manager and Receptionist

• Demonstrate your passion for the profession
• Tell the judges of anything outstanding you have done or been involved in
• Explain any hurdles you have overcome
• Provide evidence of excellent patient care or where you go beyond the regular duty of care
• Show how or why you are different to others
• Any evidence of connection with the local community or a charity
• Include relevant testimonials and supporting evidence
• Include an image of the team member.

Young Dentist

• Show achievement in your career to date
• Explain any hurdles you have overcome
• Show how you are different to other young dentists
• Evidence of how you go beyond the regular duty of care
• Demonstrate hard work and drive
• Explain how you are involved with the local community or a charity
• Marketing literature, if relevant
• Training/development information
• Patient and colleague testimonials
• Include an image of the dentist.

Dental Laboratory

• How do you maintain consistent high standards of work throughout the laboratory
• How do you go beyond the regular duty of client care
• How is the team led
• How do you keep the team happy
• Do you connect with the local community as a business
• Please give examples of clinical excellence
• Please send pictures of the laboratory and team
• Include relevant videos is possible
• Show your marketing plan and material and demonstrate its effectiveness
• Give evidence of investment and development in your lab and your team
• Include a few relevant testimonials
• Financial progress: is the lab successful and a viable concern?
• Labs in a group must enter each lab site separately.

Website of the Year

• Show how content is supportive of the websites conversion rate
• Show excellent structure
• Show excellent navigation
• Demonstrate how the website design has been carefully put together to connect quickly with its target audience
• Explain what measures have been taken to reduce the website bounce rate
• Explain what measures have been taken to increase the website conversion rate
• Show the creative process that ensures the website doesn’t look like a ‘template’ website
• Show website speed
• Explain what measures have been taken to make the mobile experience conducive to increased patient conversion
• Show SEO visibility and usage numbers
• Show the website is GDC, CQC and GDPR compliant
• Explain anything that makes this website unique
• Explain how your website is different.