Though Dr Richard Cure and Dr Claire Morgan joined as members of the RCSEd Dental Council at the same time, having been elected in July 2021, their career backgrounds could not be more different.

Cure is an Associate Professor and Head of Orthodontics at the University of Plymouth, as well as a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has been an examiner for RCSEd for more than 20 years, examining MOrth, MFDS and MAGDS. Between 2019 and 2022, he was the Convenor of Dental Education for the College.

Morgan is a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry and holds a number of roles across clinical and education. In her main clinical role at Barts Health NHS Trust in Whitechapel, east London, she is involved with diagnosis and treatment planning, along with secondary care provision. She is also the Restorative Lead for Head and Neck Cancer at the trust. In 2025, Morgan qualified as a Patient Safety Specialist – one of 483 in England – and sits on the College’s Patient Safety Group (PSG) as Deputy Chair.

Despite these diverging careers, Cure and Morgan share two passions – prioritising patient care and promoting dentistry within the College and beyond.

Representing patient safety on Council

Morgan’s role as a Patient Safety Specialist is entwined with her role on Dental Council. “I was originally asked to join the PSG just slightly before I joined the Council because the Dental Dean at the time [Phil Taylor] knew I had a special interest and experience in patient safety,” Morgan says. “He felt that I would be the right person to represent dentistry.”

That was in 2021. Last year, PSG Chair Anna Paisley invited Morgan to take on the role of PSG Deputy Chair. The PSG represents both surgery and dentistry, so Morgan felt it was an honour to be appointed as a dentist to the Deputy Chair position. Morgan has had various roles in the PSG. Mainly, she supports the education and promotion of patient safety with events such as World Patient Safety Day, run by the World Health Organization.

The ‘golden thread’

Promoting patient safety is of paramount importance to Morgan. “Patient safety generally should be central in every hospital and every organisation in healthcare, I call it the golden thread that runs through. It should come into everything,” she says. “Not only for surgeons but for all the support services that surgeons have, from the reception staff to theatre staff and nurses. To everybody, it should be an absolute priority.”

The phrase “do no harm” comes to mind for Morgan. But she follows it up with a reminder that harm can occur, regardless of intent. “There are lots of evidence-based ways where we can reduce the risk of harm to patients that will not only impact on their [patient] outcomes, but will also impact on staff outcomes,” she says.

As well as staff impact, organisational and financial impact must also be considered. The 2021/22 annual report by NHS Resolution, the Department of Health and Social Care body that deals with litigation, revealed that maternity claims made up 60% of the £13.3bn total clinical negligence cost of harm, amounting to £8.2bn. This is more than double the reported £3bn the NHS spends on maternity services per year.

“When you look at some of the statistics, it really is worth investing,” Morgan says. “The primary aim is to improve outcomes for patients but there are other benefits. Because if that money weren’t spent on litigation, you’d have a lot more to spend on improving healthcare.”

Unsurprisingly, Morgan’s personal goal as part of Dental Council is to expand patient safety and promote it within dentistry. She explains: “Patient safety is relatively less developed in dentistry because there’s lower morbidity and lower mortality. And yet we still can harm the patients. So it’s about raising that awareness.”

A focus on patient safety is already beginning on a macro level. From this September, the curriculum document for UK undergraduate dental education programmes will no longer be the current Preparing for Practice but will move to a new framework, called Safe Practitioner: a Framework of Behaviours and Outcomes for Dental Professionals. Morgan believes the inclusion of “safe” represents a shift in priorities.

Taking a step forward

Cure has a number of roles within the Council. Over the past few years, he has led the accreditation process for dental programmes, ranging from continuing professional development to specialty-level master’s programmes with accreditation awarded in multiple countries around the world. Cure is modest but the process involves a rigorous assessment of quality assurance at an extremely high pedagogic level. At present, he also leads the Primary Dental Care and Paediatric Dentistry for Dental Therapists exam boards, saying: “My expertise and experience within the College enables me to help and support.”

The decision to join Dental Council came after Cure was invited to be the Convener of Dental Education for RCSEd, which placed him on the Dental Executive. The Dental Executive comprises five office bearers: the Dean, Vice Dean, Honorary Secretary, Convener of Dental Examinations and Convenor of Dental Education. 

His taking up the Convener of Dental Education role coincided with the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Cure was reporting through the Dental Executive to Dental Council but he was not yet a Council member.

“My tenure of office was going to come to an end on the Dental Executive and, obviously, people felt that maybe I could still be supportive to Dental Council,” Cure explains. “I applied in the hope that I could continue to help it with my education experience.”

Maintaining improved standards

When asked what he hopes to achieve as a member of Dental Council, Cure has one main objective in mind – maintaining improved standards. Like most things, this requires funding.

“The College has an important role in the wider delivery of dental healthcare,” Cure explains. “Although, obviously, the College doesn’t deliver the care, I think it’s important to maintain improved standards through our education and, indeed, our qualifications.”

He continues: “In particular, dentistry is not funded well and it tends to fall behind medicine in terms of its importance to the decision makers – the politicians of the country.”

With an increased focus on NHS resourcing – or the lack thereof – Cure believes the College must continue to play a vital role in maintaining standards.

“The College has an important role in maintaining standards,” he says. “Sadly, the NHS is not actually directly associated with standards because more of the decisions are made on resourcing – or not resourcing – it.” 

Leaving a legacy

Although Morgan and Cure arrived at Dental Council having travelled different paths, they have shared aims and ambitions. For Cure, it comes down to improving standards and leaving a legacy for generations to come. “I want to be able to maintain and improve the standards for the patients. Not just the current ones but the next generation of patients. That requires a lot of work and time,” he says. 

Similarly, Morgan felt drawn to join Dental Council because of its potential for making a lasting impact on generations to come. 

“I admire the College and Dental Council for the work they do in promoting dentistry,” she explains. 

“I also think that, if I’m representing Council as part of the
Patient Safety Group, then I should be part of Council so I can contribute appropriately. I’ve dedicated my life’s work to the education of
future generations.”