Important information for patients with an appointment (updated 31/12/20)

This information is intended for patients who have a forthcoming dental appointment.  Further information about appointments and the re-opening of the practice can be found here.

Throughout the current coronavirus pandemic our first priority has been the safety and well-being of our patients and staff and this continues to be the case.  Consequently, we have had to make numerous changes to the way the practice operates in order to continue to safeguard everyone.  We thank you in advance for your understanding and co-operation with the changes which are summarised below.

Pre-arrival –

◊  Patient’s MUST cancel their appointment if they or anyone that they live with has any of the following symptoms:

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough
• a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste

◊  Prior to your appointment, a member of our reception team will contact you by phone to discuss with you your individual Covid-19 risk.

◊  All patients will be sent a secure link via email or text message to the documents that would normally be completed at the practice.  To help reduce paperwork we would be most grateful if these forms are completed electronically prior to your appointment on either a tablet, smartphone or PC.

◊  To help with social distancing you can be accompanied by a maximum of one carer or parent, if necessary, but we would politely request that any other members of family wait outside the premises.

◊  Please ensure that you only bring essential personal items with you to your appointments.

◊  In line with government guidance, we would encourage patients to walk to the practice or arrive by car and not by public transport.

◊  Patients must wear a face mask during their visits to the practice.  Please be aware, however, that due to national shortages in PPE we will be unable to supply masks for this purpose.

◊  At the practice, the upstairs toilet facilities will be closed to patients and will be allocated for staff-use only.  The downstairs toilet facilities will be locked and only opened on request – instructions will be left on the entrance to the facilities.  This is because all the surfaces within the toilet facilities will need to be disinfected after every single use.  The facilities won’t therefore be available for toothbrushing during this time.

Upon arrival at the Practice –

◊  Please do not arrive early for you appointment – you will not be permitted entry to the practice before your allocated appointment time.

◊  Upon arrival, only enter the practice when invited to.  If there are patients already waiting then kindly join the queue.  Please also be mindful that pedestrians may be using the alleyway to gain access to other premises so we would advise that you try to keep as close to the wall of the practice as possible to keep the alleyway clear.

◊  You will be greeted by our triage nurse who will confirm your name and enquire whether you or a member of your household are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, as outlined above.  They will also take your temperature using a contactless forehead thermometer.

◊  The triage nurse will then ask you to disinfect your hands with antibacterial gel at our hand hygiene station and invite you to take a seat in our waiting room.  They will inform our receptionist of your arrival and at this point you will not need to attend the reception desk.  

◊  Floor markers are present inside the practice to aid with social distancing and the chairs in the waiting room have been positioned 2m apart.

◊  To help with cross-infection control, all the literature and policies in the waiting room have been temporarily removed – if you require any leaflets or copies of our policies then please see our receptionist after your appointment who will be more than happy to help.

◊ For the foreseeable future our clinicians will not be collecting patients in person and instead will be calling them to the surgeries via the big screen in the waiting area.

◊  When you are called into our surgeries, you will find that our clinicians will already be dressed in the appropriate PPE including masks and face shields and they will remain like this for the duration of your appointment.  You may also notice some of our non-clinical staff are also wearing PPE.  We appreciate that this can sometimes be very daunting and seem impersonal but we hope you understand why this is necessary during these times.  Some of the procedures we carry out generate aerosols (fine particles in the air) which means that we have to wear enhanced PPE and this looks different to what you will have seen us wear before.  This may be a little bit scary at first for young children so it would perhaps be a good idea just to pre-warn them about this.

◊  Before commencing any treatment, your dentist will present you with a treatment plan on an ipad and will ask if you would like a copy sending to you by e-mail.

◊  Upon leaving the surgery, please immediately disinfect your hands at one of our hand hygiene stations.  An additional station will be positioned on the first floor landing.

◊  After your appointment we would be most grateful if you would visit our reception desk before your departure where our receptionist will assist you with your invoice and book any further appointments.  We would politely request that wherever possible any payments are made by card (preferably contactless) or Apple Pay.  

◊  Our triage nurse will then be available to assist you with your exit from the practice.

Once again we would like to express our sincere thanks for all your understanding and assistance with these new protocols and we look forward to welcoming you back to the practice!