Latest news from EPD

Latest news from EPD

Latest news from EPD

See our Winter newsletter to keep you up to date with our practice news.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued help and support with the difficulties that covid has brought to the practice. It has been a difficult 18 months but the kind words we so often receive have really helped us maintain morale as we’ve navigated our way through the restrictions that have been placed on us.

At this time there are very few restrictions that have been eased within healthcare. Therefore, we are still asking you to wear a mask in the public areas of the building and we are very grateful to all of you who have so readily continued with this and made it easy for us to uphold this safety measure.

We are able to use our waiting rooms but we are trying to avoid them getting too busy for the protection of everyone. Therefore, if you arrive by car you can continue to check-in online on the practice portal or by calling reception when you arrive. If you come by any other means of transport please come straight to the practice and we will find you a spot in the waiting room.

We are aware that our diaries are very busy at the moment which can lead to quite a wait for an appointment at times. This is due to the restrictions in the way we have to operate due to covid and we are working hard to alleviate this. We are delighted that we now have dentists Gurvinder Bhandal and Rakhee Shah working at the practice. They are a great addition to our EPD team and will be very happy to see you for any of your dental needs. If you do find your usual dentist is very booked up they would be happy to see you for any short term needs or to take you on long term to their list. Find out a bit more about them in the newsletter!

We would also like to take this opportunity to apologise for anyone who has been affected by short notice cancellation of their appointments. This is happening more than usual at the moment and is usually due to a greater impact of the usual winter illnesses and the need for PCR testing where appropriate. Many of us also have school or nursery aged children who have to be kept at home more readily than pre covid which then results in us having to stay at home with them. Thank you for your patience if you have been impacted by this.

With the longer waiting times that the impact of covid has brought on the practice we are now requesting that you give a minimum of 48 hours notice if you need to cancel your appointment. This gives us more time to offer that appointment to someone else that is waiting to get in. Appointments cancelled within less than 48 hours notice may incur a charge. Appointments can also be cancelled on the Patient Portal if you forget to call us during office hours. Please also bear in mind that our dentists and hygienists are self employed so missed or late cancellations really do impact them.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Best wishes, Chris and Jo