We’ve taken on several cases for victims of Mr Desmond D’Mello who was operating at the Daybrook Dental Practice in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, for more than 32 years. Unfortunately for the 22,000 patients he has seen in his long career, he was allegedly found to have been breaching NHS infection control protocols and was filmed doing so by a whistle blower.
We’ve been speaking the clients we are representing about their experiences with Mr D’Mello, as well as how they’ve reacted to the news of the scandal.
A community shaken
Mr D’Mello has been described by many as pillar of the community; a well known and generally well liked individual amongst the Arnold area where he acted as the local dentist for more than three decades.
News that he has been allegedly breaching infection control protocols has come as a shock to many, given the scale of the scandal; although some of our clients have suggested that the news isn’t too much of a surprise at all.
He’d been described as somewhat ‘easy going‘ as a practitioner, which too many can be mistaken as nothing more than a pleasant and friendly demeanour. I mean, most people are fearful of going to the dentist – so to have a practitioner who can put people at ease is normally seen as a good thing.
But Mr D’Mello’s laissez-faire attitude has resulted in a recall scandal of a scale and nature that has never been seen before in the UK.
Rushed and busy – a ‘conveyor belt’ system
The practice, and the way in which it has been run, has been described by many as rushed and like a ‘conveyor belt’ system were patients were seen in quick succession. There is never an excuse for ignoring important infection control procedures that could put people at serious risk of infection – but the news that many often felt he was seeing too many patients in such a short period of time perhaps explains the reasoning behind what has happened.
Profit before patient well-being?
Many are still asking why such a well-liked dentist would put people at risk by ignoring such simple and basic things like changing gloves, washing hands, and properly sterilising equipment. Perhaps we now know the answer – it was all about being as quick as possible and seeing as many patients as possible, which one can only assume is to maximise his profit.
The tabloids are reporting stories of a man who lived a lavish lifestyle who was earning £1,000 a day for his work. Whilst no one can really know right now the reasoning behind his ignorance and lack of care when it comes to patient well-being, money is perhaps a plausible theory…
As I said above, several of our clients have reported the practice regularly being rushed and busy. One of our clients reported that he recalls Mr D’Mello not changing his gloves between him and his child who were both visiting the practice for appointments together; something he never really questioned at the time.
D’Mello reportedly suffered from back problems which were perhaps a distraction when it came to adherence to important infection control procedures that he allegedly breached following secret footage handed to the authorities by a whistle blower. Until Mr D’Mello comments on exactly why he failed to follow basic protocol, we can only speculate based on what our clients are telling us so far.
As the volume of clients we represent for cases continues to grow, we’ll publish more about their experiences and reactions to the outing of the ‘Dirty Dentist’ as NHS investigations remain ongoing.
