Conversations with Chris — Paige Abbs, Woodborough House

In this episode I’m joined by Paige Abbs, Practice Manager at Woodborough House Dental Practice in Pangbourne, Berkshire. 

Paige arrived three years ago from a corporate operations background and has since made a marked impact on a large, multi-disciplinary private practice. We talk career pivots, culture, systems and why the right kind of structure liberates people to do their best work.

Paige describes being recruited through networking rather than advertising — a reminder that, in 2025, great hiring is a relationship game. 

She shares why she instantly aligned with owners Nick Fahey and Sarah Fitzharris: a genuine, people-first culture coupled with a restless desire to keep improving.

We explore the “two culture shocks”: swapping South London for rural Oxfordshire, and stepping from corporate life into dentistry. 

Her verdict? Clinical technology is world-class, but the business infrastructure lags. She argues for more scalable processes and questions legacy norms (such as hourly pay for qualified clinical support staff), not to corporatise the profession, but to value skill and create consistency.

On leadership, Paige embraces my old triad — Mother Superior, Ward Matron and Sergeant Major — and explains why many practices over-index on kindness and under-deliver on boundaries. 

In a team of 40 with eight surgeries and 14 clinicians (GDPs, hygiene/therapy and specialists, with referrals), clarity of roles, simple rules and steady accountability prevent burnout and drift.

We also look ahead. Paige sees AI as an Industrial Revolution-level shift: brilliant for contemporaneous notes, compliance and freeing clinicians’ time—provided we protect humanity in the patient journey.

Her advice to practice managers for the next three years:

• Learn to have the difficult conversation — including with principals.

• Set boundaries and defend recovery time; model sustainable pace.

• Build trainable systems so knowledge outlives individuals.

If you enjoy the conversation, please share the episode with a colleague who’d benefit. Thanks for listening.