Some years ago, in another world when we hadn’t built a practice, we would host conferences each year at the Carriage hall in Plumtree.
One year would be the Learning from Failure conference and the next was would be the DES conference and they would rotate.
One of the years when we put a call for speakers, I was approached by John Lewis who came to speak about his terrible and heart-rending experience of having a patient die in surgery and the aftermath of that and the accusations and the family torture that ensued.
Following on from that John helped to found ConfiDental which is a confidential telephone support service for colleagues in trouble with stress and mental health issues and really anything you need.
It is an extraordinary resource and a life changing project and in the intervening years I’ve not heard much from John and our paths have not crossed but I got an email the other day asking if I would help to promote the role of trustee within his organisation which has become available.
And so, John has provided this material that’s listed below including an mp4 file just to show you what’s involved but I know that there is someone within this group who reads this blog who is ideally suited to that post and so, just pick up the phone or send a message and start the ball rolling.
Confidental is a charitable organisation that runs a helpline for dentists, hygienists and therapists in crisis. The helpline is a 24/7 and 365 days a year service provided anonymously to professionals in distress or suffering a mental health breakdown. The call handlers are dental professionals (retired and practising) that offer a non-judgemental, anonymous hearing service with signposting to appropriate avenues.
The charity is now taking expressions of interest for the role of a trustee. The current board is made up of six trustees and we are looking for two additional trustees. We are preferably looking for an early career dentist and a hygienist or therapist that have good IT and social media skills.
The trustee is expected to attend monthly meetings and contribute their expertise in operational and strategic plans of the charity. The trustee additionally would be expected to be involved in various projects throughout the year. The trustee will not be expected to become a volunteer call handler.
Expected Specifications:
Dentist preferably early career but all applications welcomed
Dental hygienist or therapist
Competent in IT and social media
Good Communicator with a strategic foresight
Motivated and Passionate in the field of Mental Health and Wellbeing among Dental Professionals.
If you are interested, kindly email confidental.helpline@gmail.com for further information and application instructions.
Recently, I just completed (again) ‘The five People you Meet in Heaven’ by Mitch Albom.
The premiss behind the book is that sometimes we change people’s lives and push it in another direction without really knowing we’re doing it.
I guess the role of trustee is a bit like that.
An unsung hero who can positively influence people way beyond their scope and sphere.
Good luck, I wish you the best in changing people’s lives.
Blog Post Number - 3252
Leave a comment