From the very beginning of my time with my practice the décor was dated and in much need of refreshing. Some of the furniture also needed replacing and updating, and so we immediately formed plans to completely re-design and refurbish the practice and give it a whole new lease of life. We wanted the practice to appeal to a wide range of patients, so my team and I worked together to create a design we thought would be effective and allow a highly efficient workflow whilst looking great.
Our main issue within the practice was a serious lack of space – the entrance area and reception was very cramped, the office lacked any privacy as it looked straight out into the waiting area, and one of the surgeries was very dark with poor access. In the end, we decided that all three surgery rooms needed to be completely stripped back to bare walls, refitted and redecorated, the reception area needed some structural changes and the office needed relocating.
The project was originally delayed due to changes in management but when the JHA group joined forces with Smiles Dental we soon then got back on track, and our designs were put to Vince Hartigan (Smiles special project manager) so the builders and engineers could start planning how this would all proceed.
As we already had a very full appointment book and we wanted the practice to remain open and function as normally as possible throughout the refurbishment, working out a schedule was quite a challenge. We intended most of the work to be completed at night, but of course there were noise issues with the structural work needed, as we are located in a residential area and had to consider the neighbours. The in-house laboratory also needed to be moved and expanded, as it was in a less than ideal location with its entrance through the kitchen.
The first job for the builders was to erect a freestanding structure on a hard standing in the garden of the practice, which was to become the new laboratory. Once we had moved all the equipment and workstations over, what was our old lab then became a brand new central sterilisation room. I developed the plans with the help of my team, and Vince Hartigan implemented them. We take the role of cross infection and decontamination very seriously. The whole team was delighted to have a new state-of-the-art decontamination room and to now be working to ‘best practice’, enabling us to offer a much improved service to our patients.
Having started the project only weeks before Christmas, we did see a slight dip in progress over the holidays, but once the festivities were over it was back to work for everyone.
Keeping the practice running and functioning throughout the project not only ensured we delivered the treatment we had promised to our patients, but also provided constant revenue while the work was being competed, which made a huge difference to our budget for the project. However, with a lot of work being completed in the evenings, remaining open did present a significant amount of extra work for the entire practice team, as we had to arrive early every day in order to clean and disinfect everything ready for our first appointments. At the end of every day, we also then had to put away what equipment and instruments we could, and cover everything else in an attempt to protect it from the dust and dirt generated by the builders. This was at its worst when the time came for the chimney-breast to be removed from the reception area and a doorway to be created for access to our new central sterilisation room. Being an old Welsh stone cottage this was quite a feat –but it did open up the space and give us a lot more room than we had before.
Moving upstairs, the builders turned their attention to our surgeries, which were in much need of a facelift. We completely re-designed the surgeries, redecorating them all and fitting them with new, much bigger windows and brand new furnishings. Along with this the practice has been completely rewired and has had a new oak floor fitted throughout. Once everything was painted to match our new Smiles Dental branding, it was then down to the last few finishing touches like moving documents into new cupboards, acquiring new chairs and deciding on new artwork.
The result
Running a functional dental practice while undergoing some major reconstruction and refurbishment was quite a feat. Looking at our new premises, we have gained three bright, efficient and newly equipped surgery rooms, a totally new decontamination room, a brand new and improved in-house laboratory, a larger reception area and a much more strategically located office. We have also seen the addition of a brand new Cone Beam CT scanner, which will greatly enhance treatment planning for our implant cases and offer a valuable service to our local colleagues by referral.
We are now able to run much more effectively as a practice, and with improved security and new infection control protocols, we can offer an even safer dental environment for all our patients. Our décor also now of course matches our branding, and we have even ordered new scrubs to emphasise this even more.
By far the biggest challenge for me personally, was ensuring the practice remained operational, presentable and safe throughout the whole process. Accommodating workmen and patients in the same building at the same time caused numerous health and safety issues, which as a team we worked hard to manage and control. Although there was a fair amount of disruption, with a few snags along the way, our patients were ultimately very understanding and happy to help. We now have a modern, state-of-the-art premises that compliments the high quality, advanced private dentistry that we provide for patients.