Southview Dental Care

An Update on Re-Opening Southview Dental Care

Friday 29th May 2020

The team at Southview hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and well.

You may have heard from Boris Johnson in yesterday evening's press conference that dental practices can re-open from 8th June.

The announcement on the BBC was the first time we, and in fact the whole dental profession, heard this news too. There was no advanced warning provided to dentists. However, our surprise was accompanied with relief and much excitement to be able to return to what the Southview team are passionate about doing: taking care of you, our patients.

I'm sure you appreciate that it isn't just a case of opening our doors and returning to normal. I am writing to let you know about the process we are undertaking at Southview, as things are likely to be quite different.

Over the next week, my team and I will be working hard to ensure we have everything in place to ensure your safety when you visits us, and the safety of the team.

In fact, today - Friday 29th May - I am attending a full day course on the correct fitting of PPE. Some of this equipment has not been used before in dental practices, including FFP3 masks, which need to be fit-tested for each individual.

PPE is needed not just for the protection of the team, but also for you. We will need to source and purchase the PPE required, something I am sure you know is in very high demand at the moment. While we aim to open on 8th June, sourcing this may determine the exact date we are able to re-open our doors. Rest assured however, we are doing everything we can to procure the correct PPE.

As well as the situation with PPE, we need to address our Standard Operating Procedures. There is no guidance from our governing bodies on this, so again, over the next week, we will be working hard to assess the risks and rewrite protocols, taking into account everything we have been learning about the new risks.

We will consider and provide accordingly for every aspect of your visit to us. For instance, you may be asked to wait in your car, or outside the practice until you are called in for your appointment. All protocols will be communicated to you prior to coming to see us.

We can only reopen once we are sure we have all the safety procedures and equipment in place at Southview. It is likely that it will be a phased approach reopening, to allow a safe, reassuring experience for you.

We have been constructing a waiting list throughout the lockdown, prioritising patients on the basis of urgency. We will be contacting patients to book more urgent appointments first.

If you have been reluctant to contact the practice and have an urgent dental need, please do call (01732 865 021) or email the practice so we can assess your needs effectively. We are determined to support patients who need care as quickly as possible, and will be open to provide further treatments as soon as we are safely able to do so. Our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our patients and colleagues, so we will only reopen once everything is in place, hopefully on 8th June.

We look forward to contacting you again by telephone or email to inform you of the measures we have put in place to ensure your wellbeing and let you know what you can expect during your visit.

My team and I sincerely look forward to welcoming you back to Southview.

In the meantime, stay safe and well.

Ransley Morenas

We're still here for you and your family

As you are aware some businesses are starting to open again following lockdown. I am writing to explain why Southview Dental is not yet able to be one of them and update you on our work to prepare for a safe and effective re-opening.

As you can understand the nature of providing dentistry requires close proximity with our patients.

All dentists eagerly await guidance from our leading dental bodies as to when we will be able to re-open our practices. As yet, an actual date is still unknown.

As soon as we are told when this can happen we will let you know, along with telling you about all the measures we are putting in place to ensure your safety, and the safety of our team, when we are open again.

We continue to work on putting these measures in place. The greatest challenge to re-opening is the supply of the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required. I am undertaking training to become a trained PPE mask fit tester. This training will speed up the process of obtaining the correct PPE suitable for each clinical team member and contribute to the safe environment we will maintain for our patients and dental team.

We are likely to see a phased return to face-to-face treatment once we are able to open our doors. Initially the likelihood is that we will only be able to provide face-to-face treatment for patients needing urgent care that does not involve us using our handpieces (dental drills), similar to what is provided at the Urgent Dental Centres.

I would like to take the opportunity on behalf of the team at Southview to say a heartfelt thank you for your understanding and patience.

Do remember that we are still here to give free telephone advice to support your dental health during lockdown:

• In the event you need to speak to a dentist urgently, please contact us on 01732 865021 for advice rather than telephoning NHS 111 or attending A&E
• For non-urgent advice, please email info@svdc.co.uk and we will be sure to respond to your email