Dento-legal essentials: The four Cs

09:30 Chair’s introduction

Len D’Cruz, Head of Indemnity, BDA

09:40 Beyond Words – the art of effective communication

• Effective communication – importance, structure, verbal, and non-verbal elements
• Professional communications and how they impact the dentist-patient and dentist-team relationships
• How to build trust with patients through effective communication.

Raj Rattan MBE, Dental Director, Dental Protection

10:40  Confidentiality – why this is essential

• The duty of confidentiality and who it applies to in the dental practice
• What information needs to be confidential?
• How to respond to requests for confidential information from third parties

Susie Sanderson OBE, Dento-legal Advisor, BDA

11:25 Morning break and refreshments

11:45 Consent – a living and breathing process

• How case law concerning consent have developed over time
• How this affects achieving consent in dental practice
• Is your consent process watertight?

Joe Ingham, Dento-legal Advisor, BDA

12:30 Communication - how does it affect you?

• Day-to-day management of patients – the overall approach to communication, including the experience a patient has at the practice from start to finish
• Managing patient and clinician expectations
• Communicating with nervous and more vulnerable patients; role of the team; anticipation of anxiety; language; empathy; training
• Communication risks and some case examples

Clare Lawrence, Dento-legal Advisor BDA

13:15 Lunch

14:00 Complaints Part 1: Anticipating the risk of complaints 

• Minimising the risk of complaints-are they inevitable?
• Do practice systems and procedures have an impact on the risk of complaints?
• The significance of competence and capability and likability

Len D’Cruz, Head of Indemnity, BDA

14:45 Practical session – Breakout groups (part 1)

Explore and discuss scenarios and work interactively with peers.

Led by Shreeti Patel, Dento-legal Advisor, BDA

15:20 Afternoon break

15:40 Practical session – Breakout groups (part 2)

Explore and discuss scenarios and work interactively with peers.

Led by Shreeti Patel, Dento-legal Advisor, BDA

16:15 Complaints Part 2: A complaint has arrived – what next? 

• What do you need to do first?
• How to prepare - what does your indemnity provider need from you?

Joe Ingham, Dento-legal Advisor BDA         

Bindiya Thakrar, Dento-legal Advisor BDA

17:00 Close of event

Len is Head of BDA Indemnity, a general dental practitioner, foundation trainer and practice owner. He has 21 years’ experience as a dento-legal advisor supporting dentists with complaints, clinical and regulatory issues, and clinical negligence claims. He is lead lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire teaching on the MA in Dental Law and Ethics.

He has authored and co-authored two books: “Understanding NHS dentistry” and “Dental Law and Ethics” and has contributed legal and ethical content to a number of text books, journals and websites. He regularly shares his wisdom on NHS regulations and contract reform and has both dental and legal qualifications.

Joe spent 28 years in general practice and, for eight of those, was the dental practice advisor for Berkshire. He tutored at the Eastman Dental Hospital's School of Hygiene and Therapy for 17 years and spent a decade as a dento-legal advisor with one of the large mutual defence organisations.

Joe has a particular interest in the legal aspects of prescribing within the dental setting and was recently made an honorary member of the BADT.

Clare has more than 20 years of experience as a dentist, working in both primary and secondary care. She became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and gained her diploma in Conscious Sedation from Guys before joining the Oral Surgery specialist list in 2008. 
 
Having worked in the dento‐legal field for the last eight years, she has continued her interest in the law and became a member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, going on to complete the diploma in forensic medical science. Clare is committed to pursuing proper and fair outcomes for her dental colleagues in all manner of dental complaints, claims, regulatory and disciplinary processes and advice cases.

Raj’s portfolio career includes over 30 years’ clinical experience in general dental practice. He owned and operated a small practice group and was involved in dental foundation training for over 20 years, first as a programme director and then as Strategic Association Dean at the London Deanery. Raj has been an examiner for the FGDP and currently for the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. He has provided consultancy services to various public and private sector organisations including the NHS, Denplan, dental corporates and the Department of Health where he has previously served as a Policy Adviser.

Raj is the author/co-author of a number of textbooks, including a textbook on Law and Ethics, and has contributed articles to dental publications for more than 25 years. He has lectured extensively throughout the UK and internationally for many years. He was a part-time dento-legal consultant at Dental Protection before taking up his current role as Dental Director in 2016.

Susie was a general dental practitioner for 36 years and a practice owner for most of that time. She is a BDA Past President and chaired the BDA's Executive Board and the UK Conference of LDCs. She is currently the Speaker of the General Assembly of the FDI World Dental Federation.

Susie represents the BDA on the UK Health Security Agency's collaborative group on dental antibiotics (ESPAUR) and is a member of the FDI's Prevention AMR and Infections Working Group.

Susie has a master's degree in medical law (LLM) from Cardiff University and is a fellow of the Faculty of Forensic Law and Medicine. She has worked for 9 years as a dento-legal adviser and has all round experience in dealing with complaints, regulatory, disciplinary, advice and claims cases.

Bindiya graduated from King's College London in 2011 and has worked in general practice since then. She has extensive experience in both NHS and private clinical dentistry. In 2018 she completed her Masters in Dental Law & Ethics, where her dissertation focused on the impact of regulation on newly qualified dentists.

Alongside her clinical role, Bindiya works as a Practice Advisor for a dental compliance company – helping practices ensure they adhere to guidance laid out by the GDC, CQC and other regulators. She previously worked as a Fitness to Practice panelist for the Dental Professional Hearing Service for several years, which has given her significant insight into the legal and ethical matters faced by today’s dentists.

Bindiya has also volunteered her time to various charitable organisations. Some, like the Dentist’s Health Support Programme which helps dentists dealing with mental health concerns and/or addiction, are linked to the industry. Others, like The Rights Collective – a charity which seeks to give marginalised South Asian women a voice, justice and equity, pertain to wider social issues.