Service with a Smile at Claregalway Dental Surgery

This article was originally published in the Irish Dentistry Magazine in September. They spoke to Martin McCarthy about winning Best Patient Care and Practice of the Year (Connaught) at the 2014 Irish Dentistry Awards earlier this year.

Why do you think your practice stood out from others in Connaught?

I became aware of a great opportunity to establish Claregalway Dental Surgery after working for many years in Galway city, and I wanted to see my vision of providing a caring dental healthcare service come to life.

The primary focus of the practice is to deliver service with a smile in a warm and friendly setting. Up until 2002, Claregalway and its surrounding areas were ill-serviced; patients were having to travel a large distance in order to seek emergency dental care, so I quickly recruited associate dental surgeons to assist me.

Claregalway Dental Surgery is ever evolving and progression and care are echoed in the daily running of the practice. Our principles lie in ensuring that all patients’ needs are efficiently met and cared for by all members of the dental team.

Each patient is treated on an individual basis and emphasis is on spending time with each patient to ensure their dental needs are met, and that problems are solved efficiently in a caring and supportive way.

In a sometimes unfamiliar, impersonal and busy world, one thing is certain in our practice: that each patient is greeted with a warm smile. Family-based dentistry is a strong theme that resonates with each dentist in our practice.

How do you go beyond the regular duty of care?

Family and community spirit is at the heart of each dental professional in Claregalway Dental Surgery. Each dentist regularly visits the various community-based nursing homes and day centres, mother and toddler groups, and the local schools of Claregalway and the surrounding area.

Many elderly and infirmed patients cannot attend the surgery, and so the provision of domiciliary care is an essential role for us.

Emergency treatment is also one of the key areas I feel makes us stand out for the rest. We regularly hear from patients that we are one of the few surgeries that provide emergency dental treatment daily—and this service is provided to everyone, whether they are an existing patient of the practice or a new one. We will schedule an appointment as promptly as possible.

Any emergency situation, such as a broken or chipped tooth, abscess or swelling, will be dealt with on that day. We try our best to stay on schedule to minimise the waiting time for a patient.

Providing patients with emergency dental care and helping them when they are in pain are the team’s (myself, Paula, Sinead, Fergal and Rebecca) primary reason for being dentists.

The team’s willingness to help work within patients’ schedules has made this surgery a readily accessible haven for those with dental emergencies; serving Claregalway and the surrounding areas is our top priority.

How does your team stay motivated to provide the best patient care?

The common goal of our team is patient satisfaction in a warm and friendly environment, where the patient is the most important person to us.

As an employer, I encourage each team member to be happy in their working environment. I push them to achieve their best, so that they can achieve their own personal goals. I am always encouraging career development.

The team at Claregalway Dental Surgery

We hold regular team building meetings, where everyone is given the opportunity to voice their opinion and contribute to better efficiencies in the running of the practice.

As Claregalway Dental Surgery enters its twelfth year in business, it is proof that the correct attitudes, style and dedication of each team member is what has helped our practice be a success.

As our practice manager Joan says, if we haven’t got a happy and friendly working environment, then why would anyone want to be treated by us?

How did you get into dentistry?

After teaching for a number of years, I decided a career change was needed. So I returned to college at 26 to study dentistry, and after a great thirty years of working in the business, I still am enjoying it immensely.

There have been a lot of changes and challenges throughout the years, but opening Claregalway Dental Surgery twelve years ago has definitely been the most rewarding.

Why did you decide to enter the Irish Dentistry Awards?

My practice manager Joan decided to enter the 2013 Irish Dentistry Awards after reading an article in Irish Dentistry. We had decided to enter the categories for Best Employer, Best Practice Connaught, Best Dental Team and Best Patient Care.

We attended on the night and I was delighted to take home the award for Best Employer and to be a finalist in the other three categories. So, on the strength of the 2013 awards, Joan again decided that we should enter the 2014 awards—and that is exactly what we did!

How did it feel to come away with two awards on the night?

It was a huge shock, but a great one! I attended the awards with no expectations, so to come away with two awards was truly a great feeling.

After winning Best Employer in the 2013 Irish Dentistry Awards, I was humbled by the kind words the staff had to say about me, so taking home the awards for Best Practice Connaught and Best Patient Care was fantastic because both of these awards aren’t about me, they are about the great team I have working alongside me. Without their help and dedication, our practice simply could not have won.

What impact do you think these awards will have on your work and practice?

The awards have given the team a confidence boost. It’s an acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication they provide to our patients every day. It encourages the team to stay focused in providing excellent dental treatment and customer service with a smile.

It has been encouraging to receive so many compliments from our patients after winning these awards; it’s also great for our patients to know that we place their dental needs first and that they are our primary focus.

What advice would you give other practices looking to enter?

Treat your patients the way you would like to be treated. Make the patient your main focus of attention and value their time. I feel you have to be dedicated to building strong, genuine relationships with every patient.

Strive to maintain an immaculate service, so your patients feel satisfied with their results as well as relaxed and cared for by their visit to your surgery.

Make sure that you have a strong and dedicated team behind you and that you all have the same goals. Surround yourself with positive people. Optimism can be contagious. Make sure the staff are happy and enjoy working with you.

At Claregalway Dental Surgery, our style with patients is friendly and personal; it is built upon the trust we’ve established with them over the years.

Will you be entering next year’s awards?

Yes, we will be entering the 2015 awards. It’s great that the awards are here to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that a dental team provides.

It’s a great social night to meet up with colleagues that you may not have seen in a while. Irish Dentistry and all the awards sponsors provide a great night’s entertainment, which is well remembered and talked about throughout the year!

Keep up to date with Claregalway Dental Surgery by liking their page on Facebook.