Coronavirus – 28 / 5 / 2020

28/05/2020

Dear patients

We are very pleased to announce that we are being allowed to re open for patient care from the 8th of June.

We will return to seeing patients on a gradual basis and will give priority to those patients who have been suffering with pain over the time of enforced closure and who have contacted us as dental emergencies.

The number of patients we will be able to see each day will be reduced due to:
• more stringent requirements for cleaning down surgeries between patients.
• different personal protective equipment (PPE) for many procedures considered routine in the past.
• a need to enforce social distancing between patients.

At the time of writing we have been told the date from which we can re-open but have not been informed of the protocols we will be required to follow. This date that has been announced has been sprung on us without warning! There is a joint task group dealing with this, who are publishing their recommendations in a few days. This is clearly not ideal, but we cannot re- open until we have all the required PPE for safe practice. As you are aware there is a shortage of PPE and we donated some of our stocks of PPE to Care Homes and Urgent Dental Care Centres. We were also reluctant to purchase PPE as we felt we were taking it away from the NHS and Care Homes!

Rest assured we are working hard to get things in place to provide safe dental treatment. The safety of our patients and staff is of paramount importance.

Please do not attend the practice without an appointment. Patients attending the practice will need to understand and comply with the changes being made to ensure safety.

If you feel you have a dental concern that is deemed urgent please contact the practice on 01604706887 and we will triage your needs. Our team are available on this number weekdays between 9am and 5pm.

Emergency calls out of hours should be to 111

Thank you for your understanding.

Kind Regards

Rowtree Dental Care