An Asian-origin dental surgeon was invited to 10 Downing Street to a special event marking the NHS' 70th anniversary. Nishma Patel, originally from Leicester, has worked at The Dentist, South Street in Bishop Stortford for six years. She attended the reception for NHS workers hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May last Wednesday and spoke to Mrs May as well as Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens.
Nishma has been working for Chief Dental Officer (CDO) Sara Hurley two days a week in a national policy advisory role since September 2017, looking at how the NHS dental contract will be delivered in the future. She has also completed work on a national clinical dental fellow scheme, which led Sara to nominate her for the Downing Street visit. Nishma was accompanied by four members of the CDO team, including two fellow dentists.
Nishma, who moved to Bishop Stortford from Dulwich six years ago, also does performance management work for NHS England. After her informative and educating article in the Mail on Sunday about child oral health, she was also given the chance to take over the NHS Twitter account for a week, to advice and give information to its 33k followers.
Her husband, Raj Sharma, works at The Dentist and their children, Jai-Sai, 8, and Cassie-Riva, 5, attend the Manor Fields Primary School.
38-year old Nishma reportedly told the Bishop Stortford Independent, “It was brilliant, it was such a nice reception.
“I got to meet Theresa May and shook her hand. I told her she’s an inspiration to women in leadership roles. I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with her views, but I think having a woman as Prime Minister is inspirational.
“It was really good to be championing dentistry and oral health. The NHS 70 needs to be celebrated and I was being such a cheerleader for dentistry at Downing Street as well.”
