Coronavirus Update

Dear Patient:

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health.

Following the announcement from our prime minister last night (Monday, 4th January 2021) we would like to reassure you that our practice will be remaining OPEN. Dentistry is an essential medical service, patients are entitled to travel for medical appointments including dental.

If you already have an appointment booked it will continue as normal unless we contact you. If you would like to rearrange please call 01858 434500 if possible, please call after 2pm as our phone lines in the morning are very busy with emergency calls.

We will be prioritising emergency patients and you will be asked more questions by our reception team to triage you. If you do require an emergency appointment please do telephone the practice on 01858 434500 please DO NOT attend the practice unless you have an appointment booked.

We would like to confirm the following: Please do not attend the practice unless you have an appointment. If you have symptoms of a continuous cough, temperature, loss of taste or smell or generally feeling unwell please call 01858 434500 before your appointment please do not attend the practice. We will call all patients prior to their appointment to go through our covid-19 questionnaire and information on attending the practice.

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 may 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, children’s 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 any one 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 must be observed if another patient is present in the dental practice
• Payment should be made by card where possible
• Staff will not shake your hand
• 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 do not arrive without an appointment
• Patients should come wearing a mask if possible or be prepared to wear one.

Sincerely,

Pure Dental Studio