Dear valued patient

 

Dear valued patient,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. We have all 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. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.

We follow infection control recommendations made by the Department of Health; Public Health England; The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; NHS and other professional bodies, so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.

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

  • The practice front door will remain closed.
  • Your team will be wearing additional personal protective equipment.
  • Our team will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some screening questions.
  • We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the practice. You will also find it in other places in the practice for you to use as needed.
  • Access to the waiting area will be avoided. We request that you remain outside of the building until we are ready to start your appointment, at which point you will be informed by phone and met at the front door by a member of the team.
  • Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment or your appointment may be scheduled outside of our normal working hours.
  • 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 practice 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 other people are present in the practice.
  • We would prefer to restrict access to the toilet on site, in view of the additional cleaning that would be required by our staff to maintain our enhanced standard of infection prevention during this time.
  • Where possible, all necessary forms will be emailed to you in advance and returned before your appointment, via email.
  • Payments will be taken over the phone after your appointment or can be made by bank transfer in some circumstances.
  • Please attend your appointment with minimal and only essential personal belongings, since personal items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
  • Please do not arrive without an appointment.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice.

To make an appointment, please call us on 01626 365896 or email [email protected] or use the ‘Contact us’ form on our website at www.stpaulsdentalpractice.co.uk

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back.

Sincerely,

St. Paul’s Dental Team