The committee also elected a further four members to the SDPC Executive Sub-committee which negotiates with the Scottish Government on contractual and other issues on behalf of the GDS.
David McColl – Chair
David was recently re-elected as Chair of SDPC, having previously served as Vice Chair of the committee. He is also a member of the Area Dental Committee of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Local Dental Committee and is Vice Chair of the GP Subcommittee of GG&C LDC.
David is the Scottish representative on the BDA Pensions Committee and is a member of the NHS (Scotland) Pension Board. He is a practice owner and runs a busy NHS practice in Govanhill in Glasgow.
Josephine Weir – Vice Chair
Josephine was recently elected as Vice Chair of SDPC for the next triennium. Prior to this, she attended several Scottish LDC Conferences where she raised motions for change which were adopted by Conference. She was elected to SDPC in 2019 and to SDPC executive in 2021.
She became Principal of a three-surgery practice in 1996 – then moved to larger premises in 2016, and has now grown to five surgeries, employing 16 staff. She was a Practice Inspector for GG&C Health Board for five years and is currently the Dental Adviser to Cigna Healthcare UK and sits on their Medical Advisory Panel. She is also President of the Glasgow Odontological Society for 2021/22 and Chair of GG&C LDC, having been a member for more than 10 years.
Josephine has a wealth of knowledge from 34 years of dentistry and is passionate about modernising dentistry and negotiating a quality NHS dental service that is properly remunerated.
An Executive Sub-committee was also elected:
Christina Ferry
Christina graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2008. She is Vice Chair of Lanarkshire LDC and Chair Elect of the Conference of Scottish LDCs. She also sits on the Area Dental Advisory Committee and works one day a week as a clinical tutor for BDS5 student outreach.
Christina is the Principal dentist in a three-surgery practice in Rutherglen and is acutely aware of the many issues within dentistry at present, having experienced many of them within her own practice such as recruitment, Covid payments, maternity cover and staff burnout.
Christina is passionate about dentistry in Scotland and is keen to work with dentists to fix a system that has been broken for many years and exacerbated by the pandemic. She wants to see an end to "conveyor belt" dentistry and the introduction of a system in which dental teams are remunerated appropriately allowing them to spend more time with their patients, adopt an evidence-based approach, and reduce stress levels across the profession.
Gillian Lennox
Gillian graduated from Glasgow University in 1997 and is a partner in two predominately NHS practices in Forth Valley where she has worked for 23 years. She is co-Chair of Forth Valley Area Dental Committee, a committee member of the Local Dental Committee, and a dental practice inspector for Forth Valley Health Board. She is also a committee member of the West of Scotland CIC of the College of General Dentistry.
Gillian was a vocational trainer for 10 years and was the adviser for Trainer Development with NES from 2006-2015. She was awarded a fellowship from the Faculty of General Dental Practice in 2020. She was elected on to SDPC at the recent elections and recognises that NHS dentistry is at crisis point. She is determined to negotiate a funding settlement that allows dentists to provide the quality healthcare that patients deserve and remunerates dentists and their team members fairly.
Jeff Ellis
Jeff has worked in the Tayside area since graduating university in 1995 and has been a partner in a practice in Coupar Angus since 2003.
Jeff has served on Tayside LDC since 2005 and as its Secretary/Treasurer since 2008. He is also a previous Chair of the Conference of Scottish Local Dental Committees. He has served on SDPC since 2009 and its Executive since 2012.
Jeff is committed to postgraduate education and training having been a VT trainer since 2006 and has one of the first Practice Mangers to complete the NES Practice Manger course. He has long been aware of the need to replace the SDR with a system more fit for purpose and considers that, post-Covid, this must now happen if NHS dentistry is to survive.
Clare Murphy
Clare qualified from Glasgow University in 2004 and worked as an associate in and around Glasgow until 2011 when she bought a predominately NHS practice. She has two associates, and the practice runs a sedation referral service and provides visiting sedation for a number of other practices.
Clare is a member of Greater Glasgow and Clyde LDC and had the role of liaison officer for a number of years. She has been on SDPC for around six years and has been on the Executive for the past three years.
The SDPC represents all non-salaried general dental practitioners practising in the NHS or privately, including orthodontists and assistants, working in Scotland.