Dental Academy

Profile

Role at the Academy

John shares the duties of Clinical Director with Sarah Hartridge and together they are primarily responsible for the safe and effective care of patients at the Dental academy. They also have a duty of care to all staff, students and visitors at the Dental Academy.

John is the outward facing Clinical Director and maintains working relationships with the Local Area Team of the NHS National Commissioning Board, the local Consultant in Dental Public Health, the neighbouring Local Authorities, the Local Education and Training Board and the Local Dental Committee. He is also responsible for the Academy’s community outreach programme, postgraduate education / continuing professional development programmes and student placements.

John is responsible for the Dental Academy’s Community Outreach programme, which is a central plank of the University’s strategic plan. This programme involves all our students (dental students, hygiene/therapy students and dental nurse students) working in the local community, particularly in areas of deprivation, to stimulate oral health promotion. Portsmouth has some of the highest rates of dental disease anywhere on the south coast and education is the key to reducing disease rates. Commissioned by the NHS and the City Council, the students have rolled out the University’s ‘Brush-UP’ scheme throughout schools in the City, to initiate classroom based supervised tooth-brushing, dental screening and fluoride varnish application to protect teeth. In addition, students go out to institutions to work with ‘hard-to-reach’ groups, who rarely access dental treatment. Other students work in residential care homes to train and mentor care staff in oral care for the elderly, or for those with Dementia.

John’s other duties as Clinical Director extend to health and safety in the clinical areas and phantom head laboratory, maintaining standards in the Dental Academy’s Decontamination Unit and to oversee radiation protection for patients, students and staff.

John is also a clinical teacher and is unit co-ordinator for the Introduction to Human Sciences Unit. He teaches on this unit and also covers radiography, decontamination and medical emergencies.

John is an External Examiner for the University of Edinburgh Dental Institute’s Dental Therapy Programme and quality assures the course, to ensure the standard of their graduates.  

Career

John has a wide experience of different disciplines within dentistry. The majority of his career has been spent in General Practice, first as an associate, then as a partner and finally as sole owner. It was in General Practice his passion to promote oral health developed. He designed and built two multi-surgery practices from the ground up, both with state of the art oral health promotion suites. He has also spent time in the hospital service, first as a House Officer then on clinical attachments in orthodontics, oral surgery and special needs.

John caught the education bug and for many years, he was a postgraduate tutor for the Southwest Deanery, organising and teaching on courses for qualified dentists. In his role as postgraduate tutor, he established a new ‘hands-on’ phantom head training facility in Truro and pioneered the famous ‘All at Sea’ courses, which were residential, dental team training courses, undertaken in the challenging environment of yachts at sea. 

Membership of external bodies      

John is a member of the British Dental Association and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Outside interests

John is a qualified Yacht Cruising Instructor and is a Commercially Endorsed Yachtmaster.