At the annual general meeting (AGM), held at the Naval & Military Club, London and via Zoom, both the current chairman, Jane Dalgarno, and treasurer, Joan Hatchard, stood down from their respective posts, having both completed two terms in those offices.

President Jacqui Elsden welcomed president-elect Debra Worthington andincoming treasurer Michelle Brand to the executive committee; and Joan Hatchard to the role of chairman.

She also thanked Jane Dalgarno for many years service on the BADN council/executive committee in a variety of roles including chairman, president and regional coordinator. At the 80th anniversary drinks reception which followed the AGM, the president presented Jane with flowers from the Association.

President-elect Debra Worthington
Debra has been a dental nurse for 42 years; working in general dental practice, community dental service and secondary care. Debra holds post registration qualifications in conscious sedation, radiography, oral health and orthodontics. She also has qualifications in leadership and management and recently completed the NHS senior leadership qualification.

In March this year she joined Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where she is the head of dental operations for the North East sector of Greater Manchester. Prior to this she was the maxillofacial unit manager at Salford Royal Hospital; a busy unit comprising of maxillofacial surgery, oral surgery and orthodontics.

Debra is immediate past president of the Orthodontic National Group and was a committee member for 21 years. She works tirelessly at both a local and national level representing dental nurses in meetings with stakeholders including the General Dental Council (GDC), British Dental Association (BDA) and the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. She is also a member of the BADN Panel of Representatives.

Treasurer Michelle Brand BSc MA
Michelle qualified as a dental nurse in 1991, and also holds a BSc in product design and development and an MA in bioclimactic design. She is currently a self-employed dental nurse, having previously worked in both general practice and at Manchester Dental Hospital, as a dental technical demonstrator and sales rep, and as an associate lecturer and research assistant at Manchester Metropolitan University. She also ran her own sustainable design agency whilst working as a dental nurse; and was awarded arts council funding to exhibit her work in London and in Hong Kong for a one month artist residency.

Michelle is a member of BADN’s Panel of Representatives and of the Pride in Practice Board of Representatives. She received the BADN Exceptional Contribution to a UK Community Oral Health Care Project Award in 2019.She was also a key member of the ‘All I Want for Christmas’ project team, providing mobile dental care for the homeless/those in recovery in Blackpool in 2018 and 2019.

Chairman Joan Hatchard FBADN LCGI
Joan gained her national certificate in 1988 and went on to gain post qualification certificates in oral health education, radiography and conscious sedation. She became the practice manager of two busy private general dental practices. Joan started teaching the national certificate course in 1989. She also gained the FAETC and the certificate in education (FE) and holds the city and guilds licentiateship in Dental Nursing. Joan was an examiner on the NEBDN Panel of Examiners for the national diploma and the certificate in oral health education. She was the chair of the BADN Practice Managers’ and Receptionists’ National Group, and then finance officer; more recently, she has been a member of the Executive Committee, as acting chairman and as treasurer. Joan is a BADN fellow and received the 2013 BADN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Dental Nursing.

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