Mind The Gap – Some Risk Management Lessons

This presentation will outline 10 common areas that lead dental teams into problems that can be avoided. These range from meeting patient expectations, communication skills, record keeping, reducing errors, consent and ethics. Dental teams appear to have an existential fear of litigation but being mindful of these areas will ensure you have an long, enjoyable and rewarding career in dentistry.

Learning objectives

Following the presentation delegates will:

• Recognise the top 10 risks in dental practice and how to mitigate them
• Meet patient expectations and understand the risks of social media
• Reduce errors in a systems-based way
• Build rapport to avoid complaints

This talk satisfies the GDC’s learning outcomes:

A – Effective communication with patients, the dental team, and others across dentistry, including when obtaining consent, dealing with complaints and raising concerns when patients are at risk

B – Effective management of self and effective management of others or effective work with others in the dental team, in the interests of patients at all times; providing constructive leadership where appropriate

D – Maintenance of skills, behaviours and attitudes which maintain patient confidence in you and the dental profession and put patients’ interests first

Dr Shaam Shamsi BDS (Lond), LDS RCS (Eng), FCGDent, FFDT RCS (Ed), MFGDP RCS (Eng) , PGCTLCP, FGDP Pg Cert Appr,Pg Cert BAIRD, Pg Dip Med Eths & Law

Biography

Shaam Shamsi qualified from the Royal London almost 30 years ago and is Clinical Director of Horizons Dental Centre. He lectures nationwide on Medico-Legal topics in Dentistry for a number of institutions.

In 2008, he was appointed to the post of Training Programme Director in Health Education England running one of the training schemes at Stafford & Stoke Hospitals. Shaam sits on the LDC for Staffordshire and is an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons for Edinburgh, the Faculty in London for the LDS and more recently as the DTP lead for the Overseas Registration Exam.

He clinically mentors GDPs who have FTP allegations brought against them. In 2006, he acquired a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Ethics and Law and has worked as a Clinical panellist for the GDC’s Dental Complaints Service. He enjoys General Dentistry in particular the field of Implant Dentistry. His affiliation with the GDC involved sitting as a panellist for the Fitness to Practice procedures adjudicating matters on clinical and professional misconduct. His other roles include Specialist Advisor to the CQC, Risk Management workshop presenter for Dental Protection Society and was appointed on the Advisory Board for Medical Protection in 2020.

Shaam was awarded a double Fellowship by the College of General Dentistry and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 2022.