Dear Burneston Friends,
We hope you are all keeping well and safe.
We were surprised and delighted to learn from the Government announcement that we will be able to resume face-to-face care from the 8th of June. (We had no prior notification from our Chief Dental Officer). We are hoping to receive further details and guidance in the coming days.
This is welcome news and we can assure you that we will attempt to resume normal service as quickly and safely as possible.
During the last few weeks we have been busy putting together our new standard operating procedures. We are now awaiting further guidance from the Chief Dental Officer and British Dental Association to be able to finalise them. We very much hope that we will be receiving this in the coming days.
We have had patients asking if they can book appointments. We appreciate your patience and support while we get our heads around this logistical challenge.
If you contacted us during lockdown with an emergency issue, then you will be on our priority list and will be contacted as soon as possible.
If you had outstanding treatment or were mid-treatment prior to lockdown, we will be in contact to see if you wish to continue or if you would prefer to wait a bit longer in case you are symptomatic or self–isolating.
As the guidelines become clearer, we may be contacting patients with upcoming appointments to rearrange their appointments to follow the new guidelines.
Since we will need to triage all patients we have suspended online booking for the time being.
Please be aware that we will not be able to provide the full set of services initially. We will be implementing a phased approach to ensure your and our team’s safety.
At your next visit you will notice some changes we have had to make to the practice. Some of us will also be dressed differently to what you are used to. We will shortly update you on our new procedures. Wherever possible, this will include us asking you to complete all pre-appointment forms remotely via email before you attend the practice to keep contact to a minimum.
We would like to reassure all our patients that there is currently no evidence to suggest that there is an increased risk to staff or patients of contracting COVID-19 from dental procedures. However, our new procedures will be in place for as long as the virus is in the community to give us all peace of mind. As you are all aware, this is a continually evolving situation. We monitor all guidance on a daily basis and will react accordingly as circumstances change.
On a much more personal note, all of us here at the practice (and those at home) have missed all of you an aweful lot. Please allow me to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your messages of support during this time.
We look forward to hopefully seeing you soon.
Christian Metzner and the Burneston Dental Team.