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Dear Patients:
We hope this finds you and your family in good health
We have finally been given clarification on how and when we can reopen, and will soon be contacting our patients to make their new appointments. Unfortunately, the date set by the Government, the 8th June, is not a green light for us to resume services as normal, and there are still issues to finalise before we can reopen safely, and we ask that you bear with us during this period.
Aside from Regulatory and Government guidance, there has been a delay to us being able to open so that measures could be put in place to ensure the health and safety of our patients and staff. This is our number one priority. During the lockdown, we have been working tirelessly to integrate new guidelines and protocols to add to our already high standards of infection prevention control, to reduce the time needed for you to spend in the practice, and to try and maintain social distancing between patients.
Once we reopen, we will be prioritising appointments to those patients that have had emergencies over the closure period, and those that were part of the way through existing treatment. Patients with routine appointments that were cancelled, will then be contacted and we can plan to make up for any missed appointments that you may have had, especially if you are on one of our Membership plans.
We would like to give you the reassurance that you can feel safe that we are doing everything we can to make sure that you do not need to worry about your visit. As a result, we have implemented the following changes within the practice, so your experience will differ from what it was before:
- A screen has been installed on reception to keep our receptionist safe
- There is a hand sanitising station as soon as you enter the building
- Your temperature will be taken on arrival using a contactless thermometer
- New cleaning and disinfection protocols has been set up
- Staff may be wearing more PPE than usual
- Only patients with pre-arranged appointments will be allowed onto the premises
- We will encourage only the individual with the appointment enter the building
- Only one adult accompanies a child to their appointment
- Separate vulnerable patient times
- We may ask you to wait in your car before calling you into the building
- We may take payments and make further appointments in the treatment rooms
- We will contact you a few days before your appointment to ask questions about your health, and ask you to update your personal and medical details on our new online patient portal
- Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to accept payments by cash or cheque
To minimise the need for paper forms and questionnaires, we have set up an online patient portal that enables you to update your details online before you attend your appointment. We will also be encouraging contactless payments where possible, using virtual card terminals. We will also prefer to email any receipts and treatment plans to you to keep things as paperless as possible.
Once again, thank you for your loyalty over these difficult past few weeks. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Kind regards, and continue to stay safe.
Kavit Khosla BDS MFDS RCS(Eng)
Principal Dentist and Owner
