PATIENT NOTICE: COVID-19

(UPDATED 02/06/20)

Dear Patients:

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. You may have heard that dental practices can soon open and this letter is to provide you with further information in regards to this.

Family Dental Centre will be reopening on Monday 15th June but we just wanted to be clear that this may not be business as usual. The treatments you are offered may be different to those you received before, depending on staff and equipment available. It will take sometime before services return to what you previously experienced as normal. Please be patient.

Due to the limitations of treatment we can initially offer, from Monday 15th June, we will be identifying those patients in pain, that we can safely treat within the practice. These patients will then be offered an appointment at the practice or an onward referral to an urgent dental centre. If you have any dental problems, please contact the practice in the usual manner so that we can triage your call and decide how best to provide your care.

Routine dental care such as examinations and scaling are not due to commence at the practice at this moment but will do soon. We will endeavour to keep you updated on this.

Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our surgery. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

Our practice follows infection control guidelines made by the governing bodies. We are up-to-date on new guidance that has been issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to recommendations.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• Our practice will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again at your appointment.
• We have hand sanitiser that we will ask you to use when you enter the practice. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the practice for you to use as needed.
• We no longer offer magazines, childrens’ toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.

We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at anyone time.

How you can help:

• With the exception of children and patients with carers, patients should come alone.
• A distance of at least 2 metres mush be observed if another patient is present in the dental practice.
• Payment should be made by card where possible ideally via a contactless method.
• Staff will not shake your hand.
• Patients will be invited to use alcohol hand gel or wash their hands on arrival.
• If you show symptoms following appointment booking, you should contact the practice by phone.
• Please do not arrive early to the practice. If necessary, you should wait outside the practice.
• Please bring your own pen that can be used to sign any forms.
• Please do not arrive without an appointment.
• Patients should come wearing a mask if possible or be prepared to wear one.

Kindest Regards,
Family Dental Centre