Dear Patient

Following the recent announcement by the government on 28^th May, we are delighted that we will shortly be able to see all our patients once again. We will re-open The Dental Spa on Monday 15^th June and until then you are most welcome to speak to us through our telephone triage service that has been in operation for the past 10 weeks.

The gradual easing of lockdown restrictions that have been introduced across the country over the past few weeks will also apply to dental practices. We will not be able to provide all our normal services immediately on the 8^th June but we do expect the full suite to be available by 1^st July subject to government approval.

We have had to cancel many appointments since lockdown commenced and we will initially prioritise appointments, in order of urgency, for existing patients who have had dental emergencies and for patients who have had cancelled appointments. Please do not hesitate to contact us immediately if you have a dental emergency, but please do not attend the clinic without an appointment.

As I am sure you will appreciate The Dental Spa has always made patient safety and comfort our top priority. We are making changes as we ready ourselves for re-opening to ensure that our practice is safer than ever before and these will include alterations to both the building and to the way in which you interact with our staff. I will summarise these below as they currently stand, but these will inevitably change as government guidelines continue to evolve.

• We are ensuring that hand sanitiser is readily available at entry points. Please make use of this
• We would ask that you bring the minimum of personal belongings with you for your appointment
• We are upgrading our personal protective equipment (PPE) in line with national requirements
• We have redesigned the patient journey through the clinic in line with social distancing guidelines. This includes the installation of Perspex screens in the reception area and taped boxes on the floor indicating where we would like you to stand in reception
• We will conduct pre-screening tests of patients either online or on arrival which may include taking your temperature
• We will book appointments to ensure that the Practice waiting room does not become overcrowded.
• In order to comply with social distancing requirements we would like you, on arrival, to wait in your car or in a safe place outside of the practice until called in
• We would ask you to pay by card or online wherever possible, rather than by cash or cheque
• Between all appointments the dental team have always thoroughly disinfected the surgery thereby reducing the risk of cross-infection. Additional measures, for certain procedures, will also include adding a period of resting time to allow the air to settle in the surgery before disinfecting and then treating the next patient

We would like you to be reassured that we have taken the additional challenges presented by Covid extremely seriously. We are totally committed to the safety of both our patients and our staff. We have thoroughly risk assessed all aspects of the practice and continue assiduously to assess and adopt the government guidelines as they emerge. We firmly believe that your next visit to see us will be safer than ever before

We are immensely grateful to you for your patience over the past few weeks. We will be in touch as soon as we are ready to see you, but please do not hesitate to contact us at any point if you wish to see us.

Kind regards

The Dental Spa Team