To our lovely Patients

19 May 2022
Coronavirus standard of procedure update

What a journey we’ve had so far! And as much as we wish to put all the extra precautions and altered procedures behind us, the reality is that we still have to be vigilant and look out for one another. Especially in the clinical setting of dentistry. Consequently, we still adhere to the following visitor’s policy at the surgery:

• We ask that no patient attend the surgery without an appointment or pre-arranged visit.

• Masks are required when entering the premises.

• Please stay in your car when you arrive, we will call you when it is time for your appointment.

• If you didn’t arrive by car, we can now accommodate a limited number of people in the waiting area. Please knock for attention, so one of the team can let you in.

• We still ask that you sanitise your hands at the sanitising station as you enter.

• Most follow-up appointments will be made by phone at a later date.

Thank you for all your understanding and patience throughout these strange and trying times! We hope to have more ‘back-to-normal’ news for you in our next update 😊

29 May 20

We hope you and your families are keeping safe and well!

First off, we would like to thank you for your incredible patience and understanding during these strange and difficult times! Words can’t quite express just how much we appreciate your continued support and amazing loyalty. Thank you all!

Secondly, and eagerly anticipated, the dental industry got the green light from the Chief Dental Officer for resuming face-to-face patient care as from the 8th June. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you back again, but as we are all aware of the still present coronavirus, our whole approach towards providing safe dental care has to change drastically. Inevitably we will have to adopt an approach of phasing our appointments back in. Therefore, although we aim to open our doors by the 8th June, it might take a little longer and we’ll only get to see a few of you to begin with.

Our number one priority is to get back to treating you as soon as we can and as safely as we can. So in order to achieve this we have been (and still are) hard at work to making the relevant adjustments to protocols, procedures and practice infrastructure, along with sourcing the essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to get everything in place to ensure that our surgery is as safe as it can be for both patients and staff, upon reopening.

This is very much a work in progress and although we all follow protocol and the various official guidelines provided by the Government, Public Health England and our Governing Bodies the individual surgeries will be responsible for their own risk assessments, acquiring the vital PPE and consequently adjusting their treatment paths they will adopt for their patients.

Following is the outline for our proposed plan of action:

• Develop a phased reopening approach and adapting our safety policies accordingly.
• Secure the necessary PPE to ensure the safety of our staff, patients and our families.
• Reorganise our practice environment to achieve effective social distancing measures and enable appropriate cross-infection control.
• Introduce the relevant staff training to ensure that the newly implemented safety systems and procedures are followed confidently and precisely.

The initial phase of our resumption approach will deal considerably with our appointment book. Appointments will be of a longer duration and there will be fewer appointment slots per day to allow for the critical pre- and post consultation cleaning and sterilisation of the practice, as well as the changing of PPE (when required) for the clinical staff.

Our review process of patient appointments will be based on:

• the urgency of dental needs
• available capacity/equipment to safely undertake dental procedures
• the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups

We will begin to contact our patients starting the week of the 1 June 2020, to institute the adjusted diary.

So in the mean time we ask, yet again…that you please bear with us a little longer whilst we get the diary in a safe working order so we can ultimately see each and every one of your lovely faces again, soon!

We’ll keep you updated as we approach our reopening day, so you’ll be fully aware of what to expect and the new safety procedures we’ll have put in place. Meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re still manning the phone to help and advise should you need us!

Please stay safe and look after yourselves.

10 June 2020

Southwoods Dental reopened Monday 8th June and looks forward to seeing you again soon!

We fully appreciate that many of you will be eager to come back and see us right away, but for now we ask that you bear with us as we will have to prioritise appointments based on patient need whilst all the while considering our new Covid19 safety protocols.

You have all been wonderfully patient during these demanding times, and we can't thank you enough for your forbearance. Though, if we could still ask that you endure a bit longer as we might not be able to book you in as quickly as we normally would.

Please visit this page again to see an easy to follow guide for What to expect when you visit us" as well as "Additional Safety Measures" protocol, which we are in the final process of completing.

As always PLEASE stay safe!