Friday 29th May 2020 Patient Update – COVID 19

We hope you and your family are in the best of health. We are pleased to announce that our practices will be opening soon to see our patients. We will begin seeing patients with specific problems with their braces, appliances or wires as soon as it is safe to do so.  We will aim to commence with this service on Monday 8^th June in our practice in Shirehampton and 1^st July in Chepstow (emergencies only), but this will be dependent on the practice having all the correct PPE on site before we can proceed. Please do not telephone the practice unless you have an emergency at this point.  Our receptionists will be extremely busy organising appointments according to those patients most in need to start with.   Normal service will resume gradually.

Many things have changed, we want to reassure you that we remain committed to your safety. We have always maintained the highest standards of infection control.

We would like to inform you of changes we need to implement to reduce the risk to you, your families and to our staff

• All patients will stay in their cars and will call the receptionist upon arrival
• You will be sent a pre-screening questionnaire to complete online or someone from the practice will call you to answer some questions before your appointment
• Upon arrival the patient’s temperature will be taken. Patients with temperatures above 37.8˚C will be rescheduled. Please do not take any paracetamol prior to the appointment as this makes the readings inaccurate.
• Only the patient will be allowed in the practice. (please contact us on the practice number if you have any reasons why you need to attend with your child)
• Patients will be asked to clean their hands for 20 seconds upon entering the practice
• You must maintain social distancing whilst in the waiting areas
• The waiting area will not have magazines, toys or games as these are difficult to disinfect
• We will send a treatment update with your child and feel free to request a call to discuss the appointment with the treating clinician
• We will do our best to allow more time between patients to reduce any waiting times and the traffic of people in the practice
• Any appointments that can be conducted virtually will continue to be performed virtually to reduce the risk of exposure
• We will not make appointments on the day and will send them out to you. Please contact us if you have to change appointments.

Due to these guidelines, we will be seeing fewer patients per day so please be patient with us. We have a back-log of patients to see and will try to prioritise those in most need.

• We will always wear a mask, a face shield and a disposable gown or apron
• All team members will be health screened before their shift

Unfortunately, the virus is still a threat. However, we have always used universal precautions and we will continue to do so.

Best wishes,

The team at Smile Solution Ltd