I am still here. Last week I had a conversation with a very, very good friend of mine who has the misfortune and trauma of being called as a witness in a regulatory hearing (not for medicine or dentistry but for one of the other ‘allied’ professions) His story is all too familiar, with correspondence to him even as a witness and not the accused, which was unacceptable in tone and content.
An experience in front of barristers and legal officials which was awful and traumatising; something which marked him for the rest of his career and he was not the one accused. The effect on the accused professional in question can only be understood by those of us who have been through similar experiences ourselves and of course the case ended as ‘no case to answer’.
I stopped writing the blog for a little while and I had some time away from work – not because I was fed up and not because I wanted to stop but because I wanted to steel myself for the times ahead. I am still here. I will not shut up. I will not sit down. I will not run away and hide behind a rock. I will continue in whatever way I can to call people out, to make them show me their transparency and their ‘alleged’ integrity. I will question the benefits to patients where no benefits for patients seem to stand. I will questions organisations and individuals as I see necessary to make our corner of healthcare better for the people who deserve to receive it.
In dentistry our problems with our regulator continue to exist. In dentistry our problem with senior organisations associated with the profession and their dealings with the regulator continue to exist. Tinkering around the edges and ‘safe’ interactions and interventions will change nothing. Until we have a fellow professional – a dentist – at the top of our regulatory body the system will not change and conditions will not alter. It needs someone who understands the situation from all angles to move us out of this mess and to a better place. I am committed to help in any way I can to achieve a better solution for one reason only… I am still one of the people left in the profession who understands that I am a custodian - a guardian of the profession for generations to come.
This is not my profession, this is the profession. It is a gift that was given to me to hold onto for a short period of time before I pass it to someone else. I will not stand back lightly and watched it wrecked and ruined and used as a football for other peoples incentives and devices. It will be possible to try and shut me up but it will not be easy and I do not intend to go away quietly. My intention is to do as much as I can over the time I have left in dentistry to help nurture and grow a new generation of professionals who also understand that they are custodians and who will continue to build this profession for future generations of patients to receive exceptional healthcare.
Blog Post Number - 1194
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