COVID-19

Dear Patient,

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

Following the recent announcement from the government you may have heard that dental practices can open to routine care from Monday 8 June.

Our practice will be opening on that day but please do not attend the practice unless you have an appointment as initially we are only able to offer a limited service.

We will be prioritising those patients that need urgent treatment and those that have had emergencies during this crisis.

The treatments you are offered may be different to those you received before, depending on staff and equipment available. It will take some time before services return to what you previously experienced as normal.

Unfortunately during this time , we have had to postpone some routine appointments for our loyal patients and we thank you for your continued understanding and support.

We wish to reassure you that we are doing our utmost to get back to normal as soon as possible and will ensure that we make up for any overdue routine treatments in the future.

Please be patient as we are committed to maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our patients and colleagues.

We are working incredibly hard to ensure that we have all the necessary extra procedures, protocols and enhanced personal protective equipment in place.

Infection control has always been a top priority for BHDP which you will have seen during your visits to our surgery. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it is both safe for yourselves and us.

Our practice follows strict infection control guidelines made by the governing bodies. We want to reassure you that we are up-to-date on the new guidance that has been issued.

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

• We will communicate with you beforehand to ask some prescreening questions.
• You will be asked the same questions again at your appointment.
• You will not be able to attend if you have any COVID like symptoms.
• We will carry out a temperature check on arrival.
• As far as possible we will ask you to fill in relevant documents , medical histories, consent forms and NHS forms for our under 18s on line.
• We have hand sanitiser that we will ask you to use when you enter the practice. You will also find some in other places in the practice for you to use as needed.
• We no longer offer magazines and children’s toys since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients.

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.

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 or over the phone where possible
• Please do not arrive early to the practice. If necessary, you should wait outside the practice in a safe place or your car till we call you in
• Please do not arrive without an appointment
• Patients should come wearing a mask if possible

We are determined that we will try our very best to offer all our patients the highest level of service we possibly can at this difficult time but please bear with us whilst we work through the challenges of securing a new safe working pattern for you and us.

We have been devastated that we have been unable to see and treat our patients recently and very much hope that we will see you all again soon in happier times.

With our very best wishes,

Ian, Joanne, Divya, Chris and all the team and BHDP.