By Magdelena Harding, Dental Specialist Financial Adviser at Wesleyan Financial Services.

In dental practices today, it’s rare for patients to receive care from just one named dentist. Instead, treatment is often delivered by a team of professionals, including associates, hygienists, therapists and nurses.

While this collaborative approach can improve efficiency, it also means that patients are more likely to take legal action against the practice as a whole if something goes wrong – rather than the individual clinician involved.

This shift brings the concept of vicarious liability into sharp focus. 

At a recent Practice Plan event Creative Director, Les Jones, spoke to Solicitor, Tom Coates, of Buxton Coates Solicitors and Jonathan Watson, Director at Christie & Co, to get a feel for current trends in the practice sales market.

Commercial Manager, Kabir Ahmed, for Wesleyan Financial Services, shares his views on the topical question of whether vicarious liability should be split among associates.

I once got a Grade 5 for CSE maths. In the 60’s and 70’s the Certificate in Secondary Education was in the tier below ‘O’ levels. It was primarily taken by kids who didn’t pass the 11 Plus to go on to grammar school, and I was one of them. CSE’s generally, and the exams in mathematics in particular, were a bit…basic to say the least. “John has two apples, and Susan then gives him one apple. How many apples does John have? Please show your working out.” After I got Grade 5, I steeled myself to retake it. At the resit, I failed completely and was even ungraded.