A new patient pathway will screen patients with respiratory symptoms (including household contacts or those awaiting covid test results), from those who are fit and well. You will therefore still need to answer the screening covid questions prior to your visit either online or following a call from us.
The front door will now be open from 21 February 2022 so you may enter the practice on your arrival.
If you have or are a contact of a covid case, you will be asked to reschedule your appointment, except where there is a dental emergency. We may still be able to see you in this instance, but we would require you to wait outside the practice until your appointment, when a member of the team would escort you directly to the surgery, and all transmission-based precautions can be taken.
You will now be able to enter the practice on your arrival. We will still need to ask you to wear a mask and sanitise your hands, in line with current government guidance for healthcare settings. We are asking all of our patients to keep a safe distance of 1m or 2m if possible. You will be able to check in on your mobile through the patient portal, but we will also have a tablet in the reception area for you to check in through the portal.
We will of course maintain all rigorous cross infection control measures inside the practice, including our rapid air exchange ventilation of the surgeries. You will be able to disinfect your hands before and after your appointment.
9th February 2022
Dear Patients and Friends of the practice,
Whilst there is doom and gloom on the economic front, and the spectre of Covid still looms over us, it is a pleasure to be writing to you as spring finally begins to appear in the air. The sight of new leaves and shoots growing gives us all a feeling of optimism for the future.
We are planning, (subject of course to any change in guidance or covid statistics) to reopen our doors on Monday 21st February. We will still need to ask you to wear a mask and sanitise your hands when you visit us, in line with current government guidance for healthcare settings. You will still need to answer the screening covid questions prior to your visit either online or following a call from us.
The new patient pathway will screen patients with respiratory symptoms (including household contacts or those awaiting covid test results), from those who are fit and well. Patients who are fit and well can visit the practice in the same way as they would have done pre-pandemic. If you have or are a contact of a covid case, you will be asked to reschedule your appointment, except where there is a dental emergency. We may still be able to see you in this instance, but we would require you to wait outside the practice until your appointment, when a member of the team would escort you directly to the surgery, and all transmission-based precautions can be taken.
We will of course maintain all rigorous cross infection control measures inside the practice, including our rapid air exchange ventilation of the surgeries.
We will no longer have paper magazines in our waiting rooms, but you now have direct access by scanning a QR code to a wide range of publications (No need to sign up or register!). Of course, you are free to bring your own reading materials.
Happy news from the practice as Louise Stride has given birth to her first child, a son. Mother and baby are both doing well, and we are looking forward to meeting him soon. Felicity Martin who left us recently has also safely delivered her third child, a daughter. Ektaa Chopra has stepped in to look after Louise’s patients and is already an asset to the team.
Our shop will once again be fully stocked for all your oral hygiene needs. We welcome suggestions from you for sustainable products you can endorse, that you would like us to stock.
Many of you will be aware that our contact to provide NHS treatment for children finishes at the end of March this year. We still have some available capacity to use, so if you have children who are due for an examination, please contact us as soon as possible to arrange an appointment. From April we will be able to offer pay as you go or plan options for children, and our reception team will be happy to help you understand these options.
We are all very excited to be moving towards a less restricted way of working and to have you all back in the practice with us.
Yours sincerely.
Andrew and Kate Pritchard
Orthodontic Emergencies Protocol
Patient letter 2nd October 2020
Patient Letter 14th December 2020