COVID safety procedures when you attend our practice

Please read the following notice if you have an upcoming appointment at Ilfracombe Dental Practice.

Due to the current situation and current government guidance, we need to go through a few things before you attend the surgery.

Can we please ask that you attend in the following way:

• Alone and wearing a cloth face covering. We must all wear a mask in the practice and due to soaring costs of PPE and it’s limited and infrequent supply, we cannot supply you with your face covering. Anyone without a face covering will not be accepted into the building. This is a government safety requirement.
• Exceptions to coming alone are when the patient is a minor, or requires manual help due to mobility issues or help completing forms due to capacity issues. In these cases, the team must be informed prior to the dental appointment so that we can monitor and control the number of people in the building at any one time. Additional unexpected people (including siblings to the patient) will not be allowed entry. Everyone attending will need to wear a face mask.
• Bring a pen and a payment card (not cash or a cheque book). Please avoid attending other places on you way to the surgery and we ask that you do not bring along any additional baggage as there is no facility to store this during surgery time.
• Please bring with you an up-to-date copy of your medication from your GP. This will help us process and avoid any possible adverse reactions your dental treatment more rapidly.
• All patients MUST arrive promptly at the practice for their appointment time. Late attendees will not be permitted entry due to strict social distancing regulations. Your lateness will impact on appointment times of others and there is no possible safe way that you can be just squeezed in.

Arriving for your appointment

When attending for your appointment, you will find the door locked. This is to prevent the public from just walking straight in and compromising people inside. The door bell has been deactivated to prevent the uninvited from leaning against it to gain our attention. Telephone the practice once you are outside. 0191 252 1155. The number is printed on the front window also.

You will be greeted at the door by a member of the nursing team who will take your temperature and ask; if you feel unwell, have a persistent cough or if someone in your home is self-isolating with these symptoms. We ask that you answer truthfully to the best of your knowledge. This must have a temperature below 37.8 ^oC for you to be permitted entrance to the practice, as per government guidance.

Upon entering the practice, you will be instructed to alcohol gel your hands. This is not optional, we have to expect that everyone follows our safety procedures to ensure there is no possibility of cross infection. Please try not to touch surfaces unnecessarily. With this in mind, the dentist and nurse will not be offering a hand shake and will not be taking your glasses to keep safe. Anyone wearing glasses should keep them on throughout the duration of the appointment.

In the dental surgery

Once signed in, you will be immediately escorted to your surgery by a member of the nursing team and instructed to sit in the non-dental chair. This is to enable social distancing of two meters to take place whilst the dentist updates medical histories and obtains a history of your dental problem.

When the dentist is ready, you will be instructed to take a seat in the dental chair in order for the dentist to complete any assessment and treatment.

Once your appointment is over, you will be guided from the practice by a member of the team to enable social distancing throughout the practice.

Around the practice

To minimise contact in the reception area, we are taking all NHS check-up and urgent appointment fees over the phone now prior to you attending the practice except if you are a Denplan patient.

If you have received any treatment, it is likely that there will be an additional NHS or Private charge to pay. Any additional charge will be discussed and agreed prior to your treatment.  We will ask that you pay via contactless measures before leaving the practice. At present we will not be accepting cash or cheques as this will cause disinfection problems at the desk.

Any necessary follow-up appointments will be made over the phone by our reception team once you are home.

Due to social distancing and new infection control requirements, we currently do not have any patient toilet facilities available. We do apologise for the inconvenience but this would require careful monitoring and disinfection after every use which we do not have the manpower or PPE resources to implement. 

We apologise for the tone of this letter, but we must stress the importance of your role in promoting a safe visit to our practice. We thank you for your patience during this difficult and trying time and look forward to seeing you soon.

Kind regards,

Ilfracombe Dental Practice Team