A HUSBAND-and-wife team who transformed dental care in Orkney by launching its only NHS surgery after a near 15-year gap has agreed a partnership with one of Scotland’s biggest dental groups.
Scott and Amy Tulloch met when the latter was working as a locum in Kirkwall. She is from Dumfries-shire, while her husband was born in Stromness. They were determined to live and work in Orkney when they completed their travels – including almost two years working for a dental group in New Zealand.
There were no general dental practices offering NHS treatments in 2014 and patients had to use the local hospital’s dental department. However, the couple researched how to create a successful business in remote or rural locations and for several years they, and practice manager Ali Kemp, regularly put in 14-hour days.
The couple, who live in Stromness with their two young sons, said teaming up with Clyde Munro will guarantee excellent dental care in Orkney for decades to come.
Amy, 34, said: “When we arrived home the only NHS dental care available in Orkney was through the hospital dental service. The majority of people could not really get anything other than emergency treatment.
“However, we never wanted this to be about us. From the very outset we were clear this would be called Orkney Dental, because we still want it to be here serving the community in 50 or 100 years.”
Her 37-year-old husband said they had considered business models which had worked elsewhere: “The main rules for success are finding people who are from rural places or want to live in them, engaging with those people early in their careers, then give them a career pathway and progression. If you can get all of those things right, then it tends to work well. We’ve developed really important mentoring and vocational training. We have had four vocational trainee dentists and they have all been hugely successful.”
Jim Hall, the founder of Clyde Munro, which now has more than 30 practices with over 320 staff and more than 270,000 patients across Scotland, added: “What Scott and Amy have achieved in Orkney is incredible, transforming NHS dental provision beyond recognition. Now we look forward to working with them to further support the NHS strategy for rural locations.”
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