COVID Update for NHS patients

Following the Scottish Government's announcement on Monday 12th October about the restarting of NHS Dentistry from 1st November, we have received a number of enquiries and it is important to clarify the situation.

The Scottish Government made an announcement that a full range of NHS treatments will be available to all NHS patients. Whilst we welcome the ability to provide more treatment to our patients, it is disappointing that this was the first time the dental profession had heard of such plans.

The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) only made contact with dentists later that evening stating that “it wont be business as usual“ and that all restrictions currently in place such as social distancing, increased infection control protocols, additional PPE requirements and fallow time between appointments must still remain in place. All of these measures impact greatly on the number of staff and patients that we can have in the practice which means that it is impossible for dentistry to return to pre-COVID normality.

Up to now we have not been in a position to book any routine NHS treatments but are currently prioritising our appointments for those with emergency or urgent dental problems.

We have been working through the backlog of outstanding treatment required, depending on priority of need and have now some capacity to allow us to start routine dental examinations again but only on a limited basis.

Since we have over 4000 patients to examine, whilst still dealing with emergencies, this is going to take some time. It is likely to be 6-9 months before we have offered everyone an appointment.

We respectfully ask you not to call the practice to book any routine appointments in the meantime.

Should you have any emergencies or concerns please do call and leave a message and someone will call you back to arrange an emergency appointment.

If you routinely see the Hygienist then we are able to arrange these appointments. If you call the practice and leave a message stating that you wish to make a Hygienist appointment, a member of the team will call you back.

We thank you all for your continued patience and cooperation in such difficult and frustrating times.

Westport Dental Practice

261 High Street

Linlithgow

EH49 7EP

Phone: +44 1506 842748+44 1506 842748

E-mail: westportdentalpractice@gmail.com

Due to Covid-19 regulations we are unable to make routine appointments.

Please only call the practice in an emergency or if you are looking for advice and leave a message.

We aim to get back to you within the hour.

We have made a short video to help eplain the changes we have made for your next visit :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cRL7oDnGFcei0TSRm5mJkB_u1AekL8YA/view

Thankyou