Sustainability - an investment that will yield returns

Since President Trump announced the USA’s withdrawal from the United Nation’s Paris Agreement (unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement ) it has become even more important to consider how, as individuals and businesses, we can act sustainably. Practice Plan Area Manager, Katrina Rees, spoke to Mark Topley to get his thoughts.

Katrina Rees: Here at Practice Plan, we have taken a number of steps towards improving our sustainability credentials, as you're aware. We’ve reduced our use of paper by making greater use of digital, and we’re even swapping our gas heating in our building at Oswestry for electricity from renewable sources. We’re making progress but we know we have some way to go yet. In the light of this, I wonder whether people understand, or still need reminding, that sustainability is more than just recycling.

Mark Topley: The short answer is ‘yes’, and I think there are a number of reasons why this is the case. The first one is because practice owners see it as a time and cost drain as things are already tight. They’re worried focusing on sustainability could possibly increase costs, or they’ll need to spend more time doing things that aren't important. People’s focus is usually on what happens in the surgery. So, they will typically think, because they have to do all the single use things in surgery, they can't do anything else.

There's also some suspicion as to whether it is really that important. Because they don't see how their little bit can make a difference. Those are all understandable views. However, when you dig below the surface, you find that sustainability is not only the right way to think, it’s also a good investment from the point of view of your team, reputation, and costs.

The majority of things that you can do to become a more sustainable practice take place outside of the surgery or are nothing to do with what goes on in the mouth. That's not to say that there's not a huge amount that could be done in the mouth, and hopefully with the rewriting of HTM O1-05 and the waste one, which is 01-07, I think there will be a move towards more sustainability in those two protocols. So, hopefully they'll follow the evidence and prevent so much single use.

Also, within the clinical setting, sustainability and community are being added into the CQC statements. So, there is a lot that can be done outside the surgery, but more is coming, and it will be part of what we do.

Also, people think ‘is it that important and can I make a difference?‘ If everybody believes they’re too small to make a difference, then you don't make a difference. And the truth is, it was billions of small actions that led to the sustainability problem we now have. And the only solution to it is billions of small actions in the other direction. So, people must take off their cynical hat and say, ‘in spite of what I think might be my contribution, I'm going to do it anyway,’ for several reasons.

One, because it's the right thing to do. Two, because all the evidence suggests my team wants it, three because everything suggests my patients want it; and four, because the CQC wants it. Therefore, there will be some positive things in my practice if I do it.

It's not always going to cost more money because for example, one of the first modules in my Go Practice Green (https//gopracticegreen.com) course is about energy saving. Simply getting people to turn things off will result in a 5% to 10% reduction in their energy bill in the first year. So, it's not all extra cost to the practice. A lot of it is a cost saving.

Katrina Rees: I’m still finding when I go into practices that a lot of them are struggling with staff recruitment and retention. In my experience all the team members need to fit well together for a practice to be successful, so I always believe shared values come into that. I’ve heard you say before that letting everyone know about your sustainability credentials and values can help attract and retain good staff. Is that really the case?

Mark Topley: Yes, all the statistical evidence says that’s so if they're aged under 35. They won’t necessarily ask, “what are your sustainability credentials?” It's more about whether you care about things or whether your practice is the sort of place where it's all about getting people in and doing things so that we can earn as much money as possible to pay the boss. Or do the people who work here give a damn about the community, because those are all markers that younger people are looking for.

One of my clients noticed their recruitment got a lot stronger when they started putting their values into their recruitment process. This was because it wasn't just about the pay, it was about what candidates would be signing up for.

One of the things that came out of the pandemic is people realised that life was short, and life was fragile. And if you're going to spend a third of your life at work, then it's got to mean something. It has to account for something. And it certainly shouldn't be somewhere that you don't enjoy being.

Members of Gen Z, which comes behind millennials, are even more attuned to this, which is why they may move around jobs more. So, the employers that have got smart about looking after them and understanding their value base, are the ones that are recruiting and retaining people.

Katrina Rees: Thank you, Mark. It’s always easier to do the right thing when it’s good for you!

In 2025 Practice Plan celebrates 30 years of welcoming practices into the family, helping them to grow profitable businesses through the introduction of practice-branded membership plans.

With over 300 years’ dental experience in our field team, if you’re looking for a provider that has that family feel but knows a thing or two about dentistry… Be Practice Plan and get in touch. Call 01691 684165 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/be-practice-plan

About Katrina

Katrina Rees is an Area Manager who joined the dental sector in 2018 after 25 years’ working in sales and people management roles. Practice Plan is the UK’s leading provider of practice-branded patient membership plans, partnering with over 2,000 dental practices and offering a wide range of business support services.

About Mark

Mark Topley is committed to fostering work environments that inspire and energise. He is the driving force behind the Great Boss Academy (https// great-boss.com), which focuses on holistic leadership development, creating resilient leaders who can not only withstand tough times but thrive in them.