As you read this, VIDA hopes that you and your loved ones are safe & well.
Keeping you safe
At the heart of our response to Covid-19 is keeping you safe and supporting the national effort against Covid-19.
We have considered advice from our Prime Minister, Public Health England and all governing and dental authorities.
On Sunday 22nd March, the situation escalated as the British Dental Association issued guidance for dental care to scale down to emergency assistance only.
www.bda.org/advice/Coronavirus/Pages/latest-updates.aspx
For everyone’s safety, we must suspend appointments from 23rd March 2020.
Supporting you in any way we can
Don’t worry, you will not miss out on any of the dental care you need. Once we’re able to get back to our normal operation we will be extending our opening hours to catch-up on any postponed appointments.
If you are new to the practice, rest assured our dental team will be supporting you also.
Supporting our NHS
Currently dentistry can only be safely carried out using protective equipment that is urgently required in our hospitals and is already in short supply.
For as long as possible we will provide emergency telephone advice on 01329 823 040. Members of our team have already been recalled into the NHS and are participating in NHS emergency care. We are doing all we can to support the national effort.
There is dental emergency advice on our website.
For urgent care & pain, including swelling, infection & haemorrhage, call 111 for NHS Direct triage & guidance. They are best placed to advise you. Restrictions on safe care provision are escalating and services may move to emergency hubs. Please also refer to the NHS Sepsis information provided online https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sepsis/
Staying in touch
Our website www.vidadentistry.co.uk provides helpful dental information. We will also be updating our Facebook page VIDA Dentistry for Life and our Instagram account @vidadentistryforlife
We encourage all patients to follow the bespoke oral hygiene and dietary advice provided by their VIDA Team previously, throughout the period of disruption.
In line with our Prime Minister’s address 23rd March 2020, we will review the situation in 3 weeks and contact patients either by phone, email or letter, with any relevant updates.
Take care and look after each other
Finally, please stay inside, stay safe and take care of each other.
VIDA understands that every single one of us is facing increasing difficulties each and every day.
More than ever before we are relying on each other to be understanding of each other and to prioritise those in greatest need.
We must do all that we can to support each other, in any small way that we can.
The UK Government has said that Dentists may be required to help in NHS hospitals administering medicines and injections that would normally only be administered by hospital medics. The VIDA team is already engaged with this reassignment program.
We will all be looking to help each other, in any way we can, to respond to this national emergency together, for the better of us all.
We face this challenge together.
Yours warmly,
The VIDA Team
