Practice profi le
Good move T
he decision to relocate an established general practice is never taken lightly, but for the partners at Kirriemuir Dental Practice, their move has been
heralded a great success. Aisling Hanly became a partner at KDP
in 2011 after Jim Estill retired. She had completed her VT year at KDP in 1997 and stayed on at the practice, fi rst part-time, then full-time, before becoming partner with Alistair Geddes. Alistair had been in partnership with
Jim since 1994 and had worked at the practice since 1981. The practice had grown over the years to a busy fi ve-surgery clinic and relocation had been discussed even before the new decontamination requirements forced the partners’ hands. “We were limited with space.
We had fi ve surgeries, but we were shoehorned into every little bit of available space,” explained Alistair. There was no scope to expand
the practice to incorporate an LDU, as it was situated on the fi rst fl oor of a town centre building and repurposing an existing room or surgery simply wasn’t an option. So, the partners started looking at potential buildings in Kirriemuir town centre that might be suitable. A hotel in the town was considered before
it became apparent that the building’s listed status would prove too restrictive if they were to attempt a conversion. After this, they looked at a former garage, but there proved to be a problem with the tanks that were previously used to store petrol. Having seemingly exhausted their options in the small Angus town, they contacted local builder Mark Guild to see if he had any suitable buildings, or if he knew of any potential sites if they were to build from scratch. Mark’s company, Guild Homes, had just started planning a new
44 Scottish Dental magazine
development in Kirriemuir and there was a plot set aside for community development within the planning application. Despite being reluctant to move out of the town centre – the old practice overlooked the town square – the new site was less than half a mile up the road, which allayed the partners’ fears they would be too far away from the main conurbation. As it turned out, the practice is
now situated within a new housing development, and directly across the road is a primary school, meaning that they are still very much connected with the local community. With the ideal plot identifi ed, the next
hurdle was securing funding for the project. While there was Scottish Dental Access Initiative funding available at the
Relocating a practice comes with many challenges – not least fi nding suitable premises – but for the team at Kirriemuir Dental Practice, it’s resulted in a bigger and better facility for both patients and staff
“We were shoe- horned into every little bit of space”
time, Alistair and Aisling felt they couldn’t commit to the NHS tie-in. This left them no option but to approach the banks and, with the recession starting to bite, Aisling explained that it was a bit of a nervy time. Aisling said: “It was a bit scary to be honest, but we really had no choice – because we have quite a big base of Highland Dental Plan patients, we just couldn’t commit more to the NHS.” However, they managed to secure a bank
loan for the building and with another company for the fi xtures and fi ttings, and work began in August 2011. Aisling explained that they were very
grateful to Andy Yuill, dental practice advisor in Tayside, during the whole process as he provided expert advice and guidance on regulations and compliance for the practice. After speaking to a couple of practices that had built from
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