The importance of creating an inclusive environment

Good Practice is the continuous demonstration of your commitment to providing quality service in your practice. After working as a dentist for almost 30 years, I recently became practice manager. I had to learn a lot about governance regulations and how to keep up with compliance.

I believe that the BDA Good Practice scheme has been incredibly helpful to me in my journey. They provide great tools to ensure your practice fits with Good Practice requirements and to help grow confidence and professionalism across your team. Amongst these tools are the course, which provides further insight into how to best support your staff and practice in being more consciously inclusive, considerate, and respectful of diversity.

This is the first EDI course on the CPD hub made available to the whole dental team via Good Practice membership. To access the course, Good Practice members will need to use the enrolment key GPS2023. Within this course you will also receive tools to build your own EDI statement with your team, to display in your practice to patients and staff, as well as a logo which you can use to demonstrate your commitment to the values of EDI in your practice.

The importance of EDI courses

Creating a space in which team members and patients can communicate openly is vital. EDI courses can help start the conversation in your practice and reinforce our understanding of everyone’s perspective, to create a more inclusive environment where everyone feels like they belong.

Taking part in the Inclusion Essentials EDI course has been incredibly beneficial for me and my practice. It has helped us create an open line of communication, where we feel comfortable talking about our differences and struggles. It has provided definitions for concepts we might have experienced in the past but couldn’t label, like unconscious biases, and indirect discrimination. Now, before moving forward in a sensitive situation, we pause and discuss it with the rest of the team. Everyone comes to work happier because they feel listened to, they are more productive, better with patients and the rest of the staff.

Your team might not seem receptive at the start of your practice meeting, however, once the discussion veers towards how these changes will benefit your practice and your team’s specific needs, they will become more responsive and sympathetic. It’s up to us as leaders to address and lead these conversations. You have a responsibility to your staff and patients to provide a comfortable and safe environment.

Creating an inclusive environment

By looking at your current practice system, you can pin-point which areas need to be improved on to create a more inclusive work environment. Every person in your team has a unique set of skills, experiences, and religious beliefs, so it’s important to recognise and make changes to accommodate these differences.

Minor changes can help make your team members of diverse religious beliefs feel included, more valued, and respected. For example, having a ‘end of the year thank you present’ instead of ‘Christmas bonus/present’ or switching from having a Christmas party to an ‘annual summer do’, can really make a difference. In my practice, I also make sure to hold practice meetings on days where all staff members are present. I always offer anyone on leave the choice to attend the meeting and, in case they are on maternity/paternity leave, to come in with their newborn as well. It’s important for them to stay informed and have their opinions heard, even though they might be away from the practice for a period.

In our commitment to helping our patients we have created a welcome email for all our new patients. Here we encourage them to notify us of any personal information we need to be aware of, their pronouns and any form of assistance they might need. We also encourage them to call us ahead of time in case they need help to access the downstairs surgery, so we can be prepared on their arrival, and we have bought an induction loop for our hard of hearing patients. Our staff are also instructed to be mindful when speaking to patients, avoid mentioning specific holidays when unsure of religious backgrounds, or be too inquisitive in asking questions as it might make patients uncomfortable.

Continuing your commitment

It can be hard at times to empathise with someone’s struggles when you haven’t been through them yourself. However, these conversations will help you create a more welcoming environment, and better understand and respect each other’s differences, values, and beliefs.

All we can really do is try our best, keep up to date with the latest changes and make sure we keep our practice in line with Good Practice standards. The BDA Good Practice scheme can be a really helpful tool for your progression. Even just by reading the free online BDJ magazine and receiving email updates, you can be sure to be aware of all the latest developments, while courses like these can help you keep your practice educated and unbiased.

Try and keep on top of it and continue the discussion. Make sure that you tackle unconscious biases, and make sure you are aware of how your team members think and behave. It’s easy to assume everyone is acting respectfully and without prejudices, however, these EDI courses can inspire growth even in the most open-minded. You might not realise there is an issue until it’s too late, it’s up to us to advocate for change.