23rd March 2020
Covid-19 Outbreak Update
EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS CONTINUE AS OF 13TH MAY 2020
To all our Patients and Friends,
We hope this finds you well and that you’re all keeping your spirits up under the current situation.
Despite the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday, the official advice from Government is for dental practices to remain closed to routine treatments and continue providing a telephone emergency service.
This is to help play our role to stop the spread of the virus, by self isolation and keep travel outside to a minimum, including travel to the dentist.
We can ONLY run a telephone service during our temporary working hours (Mon to Thurs 9am to 3pm, Fridays 9am to 12pm). Face to face contact is to be avoided where possible.
Your dental emergency will be assessed by our staff and advice offered. In some cases, the collection of a prescription may be needed. Local Urgent Dental Centres are being set up to manage dental emergencies that need active treatment.
We appreciate that when you are in dental pain, you want to see us as soon as possible. But we need to play our role and see the big picture.
I have attached some self-help advice below, for common dental problems (these are PDF files and will need Adobe Acrobat reader or similar to view them):
Routine appointments for May 2020 will be rearranged. Kerry will contact you in due course.
For out of hours coverage, please call NHS 111 or our practice answering machine will provide more details.
Please take care of yourselves.
I’ll update you further when we know more. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Bhup Gupta & the Team
EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS ONLY AS OF 23rd March 2020
Update: 29th March 2020
To all our Patients and Friends,
Firstly, to all the healthcare workers a big applause and salute to you. You are working relentlessly to help patients fight the Coronavirus pandemic. Incredible work.
We all should play our role to stop the spread of the virus, by self isolation and keep travel outside to a minimum, including travel to the dentist.
As the Covid-19 situation escalates, we now have updated guidance from Government on how dental emergencies are to be managed in England.
We can ONLY run a telephone service during our temporary working hours (Mon to Thurs 9am to 3pm, Fridays 9am to 12pm) with immediate effect. Face to face contact is to be avoided.
Your dental emergency will be assessed by our staff and advice offered. In some cases, the collection of a prescription may be needed. Local Urgent Dental Centres are being setup to manage dental emergencies that need active treatment.
We appreciate that when you are in dental pain, you want to see us as soon as possible. But we need to play our role and see the big picture.
I have attached some self help advice below, for common dental problems (these are PDF files and will need Adobe Acrobat reader or similar to view them):
Routine appointments will be rearranged. Helen or Kerry will contact you in due course. Some of our staff may be re-deployed elsewhere in the healthcare system to help with the crisis.
For out of hours cover, please call NHS 111 or our practice answering machine will provide more details.
Please take care of yourselves.
I’ll update you further when we know more. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Bhup Gupta & the team
Update: 24/03/2020
Hi everyone, with the Lockdown notice from our Prime Minister last night, we want to reassure that our Emergency Dental Appointments will continue to run until told otherwise.
Our Emergency Service will run from 9am to 3pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 12PM on Fridays.
Please call the practice on 01902 754 525 BEFORE attending.
The latest advice on coronavirus can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
For out of hours advice, please call NHS 111 or our practice voicemail for details. Please keep safe and follow advice where given.
Best wishes, Bhup
Update: 23/03/2020
To our Patients and Friends of Claregate Dental Practice,
Our team have been working tirelessly to keep Claregate Dental a clean and safe environment for you.
As a Dental Practice, we work in an environment where the prevention of the spread of a whole range of infections is woven into everything we do. In addition to our usual scrupulous cross infection control measures, we have been paying particularly close attention to all government guidance and updates related more specifically to Coronavirus.
Given the unprecedented situation in the UK regarding the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, we feel we must use our own clinical judgment and act in the best interests of our patients and staff.
We feel it is essential that we do our part to reduce the spread of this virus, and to follow current guidelines, we have taken the decision to stop routine appointments. Only genuine dental emergencies can be seen at the practice (unless you have active signs or symptoms of being infected with Covid-19 virus).
We will of course keep you updated with the latest information on our website and social media posts. Patients with pre-booked appointments in April will be contacted in due course for an alternative appointment.
If you have urgent pain or swelling during this emergency period, please contact us on 01902 754 525. (For out of hours cover, follow the instructions on the recorded message. )
To conserve resources, we will be reducing our operating times soon.
As a team, we are doing everything we possibly can to remain fit, well and able to work so that we can continue our usual high standard of dental care for you when we return.
Thank you for your support, and stay safe,
Bhup Gupta & the Team at Claregate Dental Practice
