COVID-19 statement

Covid-19 Statement 6th November 2020

We would like to reassure you that in line with the latest Government rules, Bamford Dental Practice will remain open during the second national lockdown for routine and emergency dental care.

We would like to thank everyone who has been to see us during the pandemic and to say how grateful we are for the many messages of support our team has received praising our new operating system and hard work in ensuring our patients are kept as safe as possible whilst in our care. We have very stringent cross infection control and safety measures in place to mitigate the risks of COVID19.

These measures include:

•  COVID19 pre-screening before your appointment
• COVID19 temperature checks for staff and patients on arrival at the practice
• Reduced numbers of patients in waiting areas and mask use where appropriate
• Strict hand hygiene for all staff and patients
• High level PPE for our staff
• Additional cleaning and disinfection between every patient appointment.

We are continuing with our phased return to routine dental care which is outlined below:

If you are in pain and have an urgent dental emergency, please call the practice as early as possible as we are prioritising urgent dental problems.

NHS patients:

• As per NHS guidance we have to prioritise patients with urgent dental problems and those whose care has been interrupted by COVID19. Due to current protocols designed to ensure patient safety, we are operating at a significantly reduced capacity.
• If you are an NHS patient and have not yet received your recall for your next routine dental examination we will be in touch when capacity allows. You do not have to contact us at this time.
• In order to effectively deal with the high volume of patients who are calling with a broken tooth, lost filling or crown, but no pain, we have implemented a triaging system to allow us to prioritise the most urgent cases. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a photo of the affected tooth with a mobile device and email this image along with your name, date of birth, contact telephone number and brief description of the problem to dental.v08876@nhs.net

Denplan and Private patients:

• We are trying to contact all of our Denplan and private patients to arrange your next dental appointment. If you have not heard from us, or have any dental problems, then please call our reception team to discuss your next appointment.

We hope that you and your families are all staying safe and look forward to welcoming you in the practice soon.

Andy, Shalini and all the team at Bamford Dental Practice

Covid-19 Statement 29th May 2020

Following the announcement on BBC news last night Bamford Dental Practice are pleased to hear that dental practices will be allowed to re-open shortly.

We will schedule a carefully planned, phased resumption of service to account for social distancing measures and the delivery of safe care to ensure we protect our patients.

Our first priority will be the management and care of patients that have suffered urgent dental problems during the lockdown period. We have a comprehensive list of all patients that have contacted us seeking urgent care and advice and we will contact those patients in due course.

Andy, Shalini and all the team at Bamford Dental Practice

Covid-19 Statement 5th May 2020

Following the continued guidance from the Chief Dental Officer of England and the continued guidance from the Government to stop all non-essential travel, Bamford Dental Practice is still closed for all routine care and unable to offer any face to face appointments. Our first priority is always to protect the safety of our patients, our team and to protect those patients in the most highest-risk groups in our wider community.

However we are still available to provide any advice and remotely deal with any concerns that you may have. We have an emergency triage system in place to help you deal with any dental emergencies you may experience, so please phone the practice during our normal working hours and a dedicated team member will be available to answer your call. During this current unsettled time, we have extended our working hours till 5pm on Fridays and will accept and triage any patient with a dental emergency – even if you are not a regular attender at Bamford Dental Practice. This is to help relieve the pressure on the NHS 111 service. If a patient is found to require additional urgent dental treatment you can be referred to a Local Urgent Dental Care Clinic where treatment can be provided. These clinics have been set up to provide emergency treatment with the correct specialist protective equipment whilst dental practice restrictions are still in place.

Patients who require out of hours advice should contact the practice where you will be given your options for out of hours advice.

We are working relentlessly to stay up to date with the developing Covid-19 evidence as it unfolds and will ensure that we adapt in accordance with the latest regulatory advice.  Patients will be kept up to date with any changes to appointments, and we greatly appreciate your co-operation with this. For all our patients who have appointments booked with us in the next few weeks, you should have received notification that the appointment has been cancelled and please know that we will contact you as soon as we are able to see routine appointments.

We appreciate your understanding during this uncertain time, Your care remains our top priority and we look forward to welcoming you back to practice as soon as we can.

Andy, Shalini and all the team at Bamford Dental Practice