A Christmas and New Year e-mail to the Dene Team from our Director

Written by: Craig Arnott

Good morning all,

With Christmas and the New year approaching I wanted to take the opportunity to quickly recap on another amazing year for Dene Healthcare and thank you all sincerely for your phenomenal work ethic, commitment and drive.

The creation and growth of Dene Healthcare has been amazing to witness and something I am incredibly proud to have contributed to. I hope you are able to take the same satisfaction from your part in the Company’s growth and appreciate each of your colleagues value too.

Over the years Dene has seen and overcome its fair share of obstacles and setbacks; everything from market crashes and server lockouts right through to the loss of key staff and a pandemic.  Regardless the trajectory and improvement in all departments has been a constant.

2023 started with what could have been another disruptive change via the acquisition of Dene Healthcare by Rocialle. While it inevitably caused unrest and uncertainty in the initial period (for me as well) I am delighted to say that we all quickly reverted to type and carried on doing what we all do so amazingly well; making Dene Healthcare a better Company for General Practice and a better and more secure place for us all to work!

It doesn’t matter to me if you’ve been at Dene for 15 plus years or you’ve just joined, you are here now for the same reason, because I believe you can make this Company even stronger next year and in the years that follow.

I’m delighted to report that we’ve managed to achieve all but 2 of our Company objectives for the year and 1 of those was missed by a single percent! (Our live chat had 99% satisfaction rating, not 100%).

I’m also delighted we were able to send Ricky back to New Zealand to see his parents for the first time in 7 years and I hope in the future we can do something meaningful for all of you.

We will achieve our financial forecasts for 2023 (barring disaster), we’ve taken the prize of Medical Supplier of the Year for the 5th time, we’ve won the Excellence in Primary Care Award at the Primary Care Impact Awards, we’ve achieved our Investors in People accreditation, significantly reduced our carbon footprint, donated and helped plant 500 trees and I believe dramatically increased the strength and resource of key teams and therefore the Company as a whole.

Thank you so much everyone! You make it a pleasure coming to work, I hope you feel the same and if not, please let me know why so I can try to improve things and get better at my job.

I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved so far and I consider it an honour to work with you all, you are all brilliant people who make one hell of a team and I can’t wait to see what we can deliver in 2024.

As a small token of appreciation you’ll shortly receive some M&S vouchers via email by way of a thank you.

I wish you and your families a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Kind regards,

Craig

Dene Healthcare

Tel: 01132 50 50 70

New Year, Hell Yeah!

Written by: Craig Arnott

The Dene Team is delighted to announce that from this afternoon (05/01/2023), Dene Healthcare has officially joined the Rocialle Healthcare family!!!

 

Rocialle are a UK leader in single use surgical instruments and, like Dene, prioritise their focus on achieving outstanding service and value for the UK healthcare market.

 

A little bit about Rocialle:

•           Formed in 1977, Rocialle Healthcare has been a trusted supplies partner for over 40 years.

•           Their South Wales head-office (Ty Mynydd) incorporates on-site sterilisation facilities and one of Europe's largest medical cleanrooms.

•           From their 130,000 sq. ft, purpose-built distribution centre (Parc Agility) they regularly deliver vital products and services to virtually every hospital in the UK.

•           Their core product offering includes single-use instruments, procedure packs, medical packs,  PPE, and wound care.

•           In addition to supplying primary care trade distributors, in 2022 they created the Rocialle PracticeCare division to serve GP surgeries with a complete portfolio of medical equipment, consumables and pharmaceuticals.

•           Rocialle also acquired MidMeds Limited in October-2022.

 

The whole team at Dene Healthcare are thrilled to have teamed up with Rocialle and we are looking forward to continuing our mission of adding efficiencies and time savings wherever we can to allow General Practice valuable additional resource to focus on patient care.

 

There will only be one immediate to change to Dene Healthcare with our Managing Director and Founder, Michael Drakard announcing his retirement at the end of March 2023.

Our Commercial Director Craig Arnott said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike for believing in the team at Dene and allowing us all the opportunity and freedom to prove ourselves under his leadership.  He will be missed immensely, but we will continue to target fulfilling his mission in supporting General Practice wherever we can.  We would also like to express our gratitude in finding and partnering with Rocialle before his retirement.  We are looking forward to enjoying the future with Rocialle as we have the past with Mike!”

Green Terminology

Written by: Craig Arnott

As a business committed to being Net Zero by 2030 (ambitious – maybe, unrealistic? – we’re aware), but we’ll be sharing lots of details on our progress as well as providing useful hints for those joining us on the journey in the months and years ahead.

But right now, 3 years into our process, we thought it would be helpful to take a step back and look at some of the terminology that seems to dominate the Net Zero conversation.

So let’s start with that main term itself…

Net Zero

When businesses, governments and scientists talk about Net Zero, there may not be absolute consensus on what it looks like and how we’ll get there, but there is a general agreement on what it means.

Net Zero is the result of balancing the amount of carbon added to the atmosphere against the amount of carbon removed. It will be achieved by a combination of reducing the number of carbon emissions (less polluting technology, etc.) and increasing the level of carbon removal (by planting more trees, etc.).

When this is done right, the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere will be ‘Net Zero’ (or even better, we might even achieve overall carbon reduction).

Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3

You’ll be hearing a lot more about the three scopes used to measure progress toward Net Zero. They are the mechanism used to measure organisations’ greenhouse gas emissions, and in order to achieve true Net Zero, action must be taken to reduce all three.

Scope 1 emissions are those from sources that are directly owned or controlled by the organisation. The amount of petrol or diesel used by fleet vehicles is a good example of a Scope 1 emission.

Scope 2 emissions take this one step further, covering the indirect emissions caused by a business when, for example, it purchases and uses energy. Using that fleet example again, if an organisation were to use electric vehicles instead of petrol ones, the emissions would be produced in the generation of the electricity used to power them. These are Scope 2 emissions – outside of the direct control of the business but still their responsibility.

Scope 3 emissions are in many ways the most difficult element in achieving Net Zero status. These emissions are neither produced by the business nor the activities or assets they own or control. Instead, they exist elsewhere in the supply chain. Think of – using Dene as an example – the emissions created in the manufacture and transport of the Products we supply.

It can be very difficult to determine, never mind control Scope 3 emissions, but if all businesses take the journey to Net Zero together, one organisation’s Scope 3 emissions will be another’s Scope 1 or 2 and so on.

Carbon Neutral

This is a term that has been around for some time, and at first glance would appear to be the same as Net Zero. Like Net Zero, carbon neutrality aims to strike a balance between emitting carbon into the atmosphere and absorbing carbon from it.

There is a distinction though.

Generally, ‘carbon neutrality’ can be achieved through offsetting. That’s the act of participating in or investing in schemes designed to make equivalent carbon reductions elsewhere. That might involve, for example, investing in tree planting or green energy schemes. In theory that could mean that a business could become carbon neutral without making any reductions to the carbon it produces.

Net Zero places a much greater emphasis on proactive carbon reduction, where the main priority for a business is to reduce its own emissions, using offsetting as a secondary option.

Carbon footprint

You’re probably familiar with this term, but what does it mean? Carbon footprint can be understood as the total amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted through the activity of businesses or individuals. That includes everything from travelling by car or plane to using a kettle or the electricity used in a manufacturing plant.

Buying local produce, reducing plastic use, reducing unnecessary journeys, and even turning down the heating are all examples of the ways that households and businesses can reduce their carbon footprint.

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is essentially the marketing or PR spin that businesses dishonestly place on their products or services to capitalise on the growing interest in sustainability. The claims they make tend to paint the business in a good light even though little to nothing is actually being achieved.

A business may, for example, claim that their product uses ‘recycled materials’, and while this may be true to an extent, those materials may make up a very small percentage of the product itself. Such exaggerated claims can mislead customers into thinking better of the business.

It is important that any claims are backed up by evidence and action. Where this doesn’t exist, customers should be wary of the claims being made.

Decarbonisation

This term is generally used in a wide-reaching way, referring to the process of reducing carbon emissions resulting from human activity. It is a term favoured by businesses and governments to refer to the holistic efforts to reduce or remove global CO2 emissions.

Extreme weather warnings and your Practices pharmaceuticals

Written by: Craig Arnott

On Monday the 25^th of July this year I took a call from a Nurse that I’ve known for over 15 years! The call transcript was as follows:

The Nurse - ‘Hi Craig, I’m hoping you can help – a nurse at the Practice has gone mad and is insisting that we throw away all our pharmaceuticals because temperatures have gone above 35°C. Can you help? I think they may have already thrown away all the B12 at our branch site!’

Me – ‘Thanks for getting in touch.  The pharmaceuticals in question, do you mind me asking where you keep them?’

The Nurse – ‘They are kept in metal cabinets.’

I’ll be honest with you; I hadn’t thought about this before I received the call…. 

Me – ‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to give you a simple answer (or one you’ll want to hear) but I’ll do my best.’

‘The first point to note is that we are not regulated/inspected by the CQC as you are.  We are regulated/inspected directly by the MHRA and have to follow the rules and guidance for pharmaceutical distributors (Green Guide 2022).’

The Nurse – ‘You are boring me, Craig!’

Me – ‘Fair enough, apologies, what I’m trying to say is that; we have to store all pharmaceuticals (including ambient temperature products) in pre-mapped, inspected, temperature-controlled rooms at all times except dispatch and even then, we have to monitor the products route and journey to ensure suitable delivery times are achieved.  We chose not to dispatch any pharmaceuticals last week (18^th and 19^th July) because of the likelihood of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) temperature guidelines exceeding the upper limits (and we do the same during extreme conditions in the winter). ‘     

‘So, there are differences (there would have to be practically) but ultimately, both the CQC and MHRA’s priority lies with patient safety.  I am not clinically trained and don’t know the details or the severity of risk to the patient of the temperature breach so in our case, we would have to either destroy the products or quarantine them while we contacted the manufacturers to seek advice (as well as evidence the fact we had).’

‘My experience is that the CQC and Manufacturers will always fall on the side of caution (as you’d expect/hope? with patient safety) and it can also be difficult to get worthwhile responses from them in a suitable timeframe.’

‘I’m not sure if you have a GP or clinical pharmacist at the Practice who would be better placed to look at the risk to the patient? If the decision falls on you, I’d at least quarantine the products until you know more.’

‘I’ve started boring myself now!’

The Nurse – ‘Thanks Craig, you may be boring but I’m glad I called you.  I’ll speak to the PM!’

Me - ‘Sorry I can’t give you a more definitive answer.  If it helps, I’ll do my best to raise awareness with other Practices.’

The Nurse – ‘Thanks Craig – Don’t use my name! or the Practice name’

Me – ‘Deal.’ 

I’m relaying this transcript as temperatures are yet again expected to rise above 35°C in parts of the UK.   I’m not going to start talking about this year’s extreme weather warnings and the (hopefully obvious) link to the climate emergency in this blog. 

I also understand General Practice has more on the ‘to do’ or even ‘to consider’ list than possible right now, but patient safety has and always should take priority. 

Just food for thought. 

The Positivity Card!

Written by: Craig Arnott

First things first; welcome to Dene Healthcare’s blog, specifically written for those working in or interested in the crazy and chaotic, yet wonderful world of General Practice! 

My name is Craig Arnott, I am the Commercial Director at Dene Healthcare and have been working in and studying the sector in depth for the last 15 years.  In that time I have learned more acronyms than I ever thought possible (although subsequently forgotten the majority), read more white papers and directives than any human could be expected to action and gained a deep understanding, as well as respect, for all those working in General Practice (well – certainly the vast majority).

The Doctors and Nurses by default have my admiration and appreciation, as anyone who devotes their lives to the care of others should.  They are the ‘heart and soul’ of General Practice!  This blog, however, is for the ‘mind and body’ (for lack of better metaphors), in other words intended to be targeted more toward the Practice and Business Managers, as well as all operational and administrative staff.    

I am a long-term admirer of the endurance, adaptability, and strength in the face of adversity that this largely hidden army embodies!  They drive the industry, navigate the many pitfalls and at present, take most of the hits, at least from the public (particularly readers of the Mail).

General Practice has always been an ‘easy target’ and has historically been blamed for pretty much everything as wide ranging as NHS backlogs, increases in A&E admissions through to lists of failings in the health and social care system too long to mention but recently, things have gotten worse!

The last 2 years have been crazy, and nowhere more so than in the wonderful world of General Practice, however a rather toxic mix of national pent-up frustration, combined with enforced restrictions, government miscommunication, public misunderstanding and poor reporting has led to the most negative and depressing period in General Practice that I have known.

All industry related news is discouraging, the directives – most likely unattainable, the expectations unrealistic and the negativity has become infectious, and for the first time I am witnessing the scars of battle on even the most resilient, bubbly, and strongest of characters in General Practice.

So, I’d like to propose that everyone in General Practice does what General Practice does best; band together, focus on the patient as you always do but take time for each other too.  Accept you can only do what you can do and start to break the vicious cycle of negativity contaminating your workplaces.

There are always exceptions to the rule but regardless, try to do one thing to make a positive difference to a colleague and if they thank you ask that they pay it forward (love that concept and the film but if anyone asks – I’m all about the Italian gangster films – Scarface etc).

Today, you should hopefully be receiving a thank you card from the staff at Dene Healthcare, regardless of you using or even knowing who we are and what we do.

Let’s defeat the negativity with the thing it hates most – positivity!

Thank you for reading, we’d love to hear from any aspiring bloggers who would like a guest slot.  We understand how precious your time is and we’ll be more than happy to compensate you accordingly.

Thanks again for your time and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the amazing work you do!