West of Scotland Branch - Dento-legal career options and Branch AGM

Helen is the Branch President for 2024-2025 for the BDA's West of Scotland Branch. She is also a Senior Dento-Legal Adviser with MDDUS, providing advice and assistance to dental members on ethical and dento-legal issues and in clinical negligence claims and regulatory matters before the GDC. She spent 14 years at Dental Protection, latterly as Medico and Dento-Legal Services Team Lead and Head of Dental Services, Scotland. Helen is a Fellow and an elected Council member of the College of General Dentistry (formerly FGDP (UK)) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.

Helen qualified from Glasgow University in 1987 and spent over 10 years in general dental practice as well as working as a clinical assistant in conservative dentistry and prosthodontics at Glasgow Dental Hospital and at Guy’s Hospital in London. Helen developed an interest in law and ethics early in her career and studied law (LLB) and then trained and worked as a solicitor for a number of years, acting for doctors and dentists in clinical negligence claims, regulatory matters and FAIs (in Scotland) on the instructions of UK indemnity providers.

Her first dento-legal role in 1999 was working for a large American insurer in Surrey. Helen completed an MBA in 2013 at Strathclyde Business School. Helen has significant experience in advising and assisting dentists in the UK and Ireland and in several international jurisdictions. Helen lectures in the UK on dento-legal matters and regularly writes on dento-legal and indemnity matters for dental sector publications.

Sharon has run her own practice in Lytham St Annes for the last 36 years working with two associates, a therapist, a hygienist and a MaxFax Consultant. The theme throughout is purple and anything that can be is purple including scrubs, bibs and the window frames although certain members of the team rebelled and have been allowed to wear black.

17 years ago Sharon was approached to write a report for Dental Protection. She had no idea about how to write a report, nor any real understanding about the GDC and the way in which complaints were dealt with by the various committees, nor what causation and other legal words actually meant. What followed was a very steep learning curve aided by amazing solicitors and barristers who started with the most basic explanations including the meaning of consent, backed up with several courses run by Bond Solon.

Sharon has now written over 200 reports and given evidence at GDC hearings on over 80 occasions whilst still juggling the surgery and an ever expanding number of grandchildren. At present Sharon is also acting as advisor to BDA Indemnity on Experts.