Home » Professional Services & Advice » Guidance for Dentists During COVID-19

We understand this epidemic has impacted the industry in very significant ways – creating cash flow problems, reducing the workforce, and creating additional strain on both NHS and private dentist surgeries. These are but a few of the problems facing you as practice owners on a daily basis, due to the need to protect the people you employ, whilst safeguarding the future of the business.

Rudlings Wakelam have not been immune to these changes, but the current situation has made us more determined than ever to be available for advice and guidance for any business owners who are facing tough decisions due to these unprecedented times.

 Ways that we can help you

With decades of experience in the dental sector, our specialist lawyers assist dentists around the country on a wide range of transactions, from disposals and acquisitions to advice on partnership and corporate structures and NHS retirement. Our legal advice can be tailored to individual dentist practices or orthodontists, or a multi-practices.

Partnership Agreements and Expense-sharing Agreements

There are many ways you can structure your business, whether you are an NHS or private practice. It is important that thought is given to this even though it may not seem of much use at the time. A well drafted agreement (whether partnership, shareholder, expense-sharing) will regulate the day-to-day running of your business but, more importantly, it will guide you through any disputes that may arise with minimal impact on the value of your business.

We also offer a service to review current Agreements, and to highlight important aspects that may be worth considering in the current period. Preparation is vital for the future of a business, and we can provide specialist advice to safeguard you against problems that may arise due to the current crisis.

Advice on Financial Aspects of Running a Practice

We regularly provide invaluable advice on practice funding. We offer specialist legal guidance on the best means to fund surgery acquisitions, as well as how to achieve effective valuations, sale and leaseback arrangements and practice mergers. We have close ties with banks, brokers and financial advisers to assist you in reaching your aspirations and to provide the necessary finance to safeguard the future of your business.

Latest Developments in Employment Law

Common examples are issues such as unfair dismissal, redundancy, wrongful dismissal, maternity rights and health and safety law. Associates are key to any practice and it is important that all staff have properly drafted contracts which meet your requirements, but also comply with employment laws and NHS requirements where necessary. Our employment lawyers can provide a review of any existing agreements and contracts as well as advising on whether any improvements are necessary in these constantly changing times.

A Legal Health Check for a Fixed Fee

We are happy to put together a competitive quotation to review any of your legal paperwork or to provide more general legal advice as to what documentation we think your dental practice should consider using. Any preparations you make now, could save time and money in the future for your business. Please contact us for more information.

Dispute Resolution

We can focus parties on the key legal topics and if desired take cases on your behalf, including all aspects of Partnership Law, Employment Law, Contract Law and regulatory matters applicable to those operating in the dental sector.

Methods for providing your advice

There are a number of ways that we can provide the advice that you require, and our team are more than happy to accommodate any method that suits you best. Examples of these methods include the following:

• Virtual meetings – We are set up to host meetings on Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams. This method is often a good way to provide face-to-face contact with you, and allows you to ask any questions of our team as and when the need arises. It is always good to put a name to a face, and we find this is the an effective way of allaying any fears you may have as a practice owner.
• Telephone conferences – This method is the most used, as it allows multiple members of your team to be present at the meetings without having to rely on sometimes unreliable internet connections! We can also have multiple members of our own team available, so that specialist advice on a number of aspects can be present in that one meeting

• Email or telephone– All members of our dental team are available by email or telephone. All contact details of each member of our team is available on our website and links to their LinkedIn profiles are available should you require any further information.

We understand the difficulty of managing your practice in these constantly changing times, and keeping up to date with the new legislations and measures that are being implemented. We want you to understand that we are here to help should you need any advice. Please not do hesitate to contact myself or a member of the team with any problem or difficulty you are facing.

Kind Regards 

Jonathan Cobbold

Solicitor

Commercial Department

Tel: 01842 754151