Dr Peter Vaughan believes that as a professional person, and as an employer, that there are important social responsibilities that should be fulfilled. Dr Peter Vaughan fulfills these obligations in the following ways:

Responsibility to the patients - Dr Peter Vaughan takes his responsibility to his patients very seriously. He fulfills this professional responsibility by:

• Providing all treatment plans in writing. The treatment plans specify the problems present, the treatment options, and any considerations that may affect treatment.
• Providing a written guarantee with virtually all of our treatments.

Responsibility to the employees of the practice - Dr Peter Vaughan employs 11 staff in his practice. I believe we provide very good working conditions with the result that Karen has been here for 21 years, Susana for 19 years, Sandy for 18 years, Barb for 13 years and Kelly and Fiona for 11 years. We have recently had changes to our surgery staff and expanded our services with the result that we also have four staff members who recently joined our team. The extended employment of the staff is evidence of the favorable work environment and this is reflected with many patient and parents commenting favorably on the quality of our staff.

Responsibility to the community - Dr Peter Vaughan assists the community in many ways, including:

• Dr Peter Vaughan works as a volunteer for a number of charities and provides free orthodontic care to a reasonable number of patients who would otherwise never be able to receive orthodontic care.
• Dr Peter Vaughan donates to many charities and belongs to the Foundation Circle of the Hunter Medical Research Institute. Dr Peter Vaughan initiated a research program studying Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa was chosen as a number of our patients have experienced this illness and it is often life threatening yet is poorly understood.
• Dr Peter Vaughan has employed a number of handicapped people. One of these employees has a form of autism. By finding work that this person was capable of performing, in close conjunction with the Department of Social Security, this employee has managed to develop and mature so that she is capable of living an independent life. Her parents no longer have to dread the day when they will no longer be able to help her.

Responsibility to the dental profession - Dr Peter Vaughan also takes his responsibility to the dental profession seriously. This responsibility is fulfilled in the following ways:

• Providing orthodontic care that is of a high standard.
• Always being honest with patients, especially when treatment is not required, or when options are available.
• Being honest when requested to act as an expert witness. Many dental professionals believe it is better to ignore incompetence and dishonesty within our profession. If a problem occurs with treatment they believe it is better to lower our professional standards. Dr Peter Vaughan believes that it is more important that our profession establishes a standard, and the members of our profession should reach this standard. In fact all members should try to exceed the "average" standard as few patients want average treatment.