Coronavirus update – appointment attendance and your health

Follow link for 18th March 2020 news

Updated Friday 13th March, 2020

“Routine inspection – Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, thankfully my routine inspection & clean went ahead as normal. Other than a sensible screening process to identify patients who may have recently travelled from higher-risk areas, it was business as usual, no fuss, no drama. All the staff at SpaDental were extremely professional and very welcoming. Keep up the good work!” A SpaDental Chard patient

In common with health centres around the UK, we are sharing relevant Coronavirus updates. Our aim is to help people access useful information, stay healthy and delay the spread of viral infection.

At the time of publishing our practices are all serving our patients as usual, and we encourage you to attend your dental appointments if you’re feeling well.

However, it is important we all follow current information and advice from Public Health England.

To help, we particularly ask patients who feel unwell to change their appointment to a later date. 

Coronavirus update – appointment attendance

Public Health England has released updated advice to help delay the spread of coronavirus.

Regardless of your travel history or contact with confirmed cases, if you have:

• a new continuous cough

and/or

• a temperature (of 37.8 degrees centigrade or higher)

you must stay at home to self-isolate.

This measure is now extended to the general public, not just for people who may have been exposed to coronavirus through travel or contact.

If you need to cancel your SpaDental booking:

Please use this link to notify the practice and reschedule your appointment.

The current phase – delay the spread of Covid-19

With a genuine concern that pressure on hospital beds will increase as more people develop symptoms of coronavirus, the NHS and government is concentrating efforts on delaying the spread of the virus.

What do I do if I’m feeling unwell?

People are asked to be vigilant of their own health. If you have a persistent cough or raised temperature, then self-isolate at home for 7 days. Geographic location, or having had contact with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus, are no longer a consideration. Diagnosis is now symptom based.

If you are self-isolating, it’s no longer necessary to notify NHS 111, and you don’t need to be tested. However, if your symptoms become worse, or you are still unwell after seven days, then you are advised to contact NHS111 online, or call for further advice.

Remember – to protect yourself and others it’s important not to go to the doctor’s, your pharmacy or the hospital without seeking advice first.

When should I ask for medical help?

Most people are recovering from the virus. But some are more vulnerable than others. If symptoms are not improving after seven days, if breathing becomes difficult, pneumonia threatens or fever increases, seek advice from NHS 111 online.

Patients who are kept in hospital overnight may be tested for coronavirus.

We kindly ask you to remember to cancel your appointment in good time

We appreciate that you will have other things  on your mind. However, if you do need to defer your dental appointment, please remember that you must do so at least 24 hours in advance.

Cancellations should be made by the Contact Us link on the website.

With the heavy volume of calls our practices experience, getting through by phone can be frustrating for patients. Emails directly to the practice may not be read in time. Moreover telephone texts, social media messages and voicemail are not reliable. Therefore, please use the website link above.

Appointment cancellation policy:

• Patients are requested to give at least 24 hours notice to cancel a dental appointment.
• There is a fee for private dental appointments that are missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice.

Private patients:

• The missed appointment charge is based on the current rate for the length of the scheduled appointment. Appointment times are set to accommodate the time a procedure takes. (Eg: if your appointment was made for twenty minutes, the missed appointment charge is set accordingly).

NHS patients:

• If three NHS dental appointments are missed, or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, patients are de-registered. We cannot guarantee being able to complete a patient’s NHS treatment, and cannot provide NHS treatment in the future.
• If you lose your NHS registration, you will have to register on the NHS waiting list for an alternative practice.

Follow-up:

• We aim to telephone or email patients after a missed appointment. We do so to understand the reason for your non-attendance and also to inform you of your registration status or missed appointment fees.
• Any appeals about decisions relating to missed or cancelled appointments should be made in writing to the relevant Practice Manager.

Also on the topic:

• Covid-19 – the importance of hand hygiene

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