It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that we need to close the practice temporarily due to the coronavirus outbreak. Last week came with a rollercoaster of emotions as things progressed so quickly.

Initially, dental practices were given very little advice so as the week went on we had to make important decisions to initially cancel all appointments for vulnerable patients, then we canceled all procedures that create a water spray and we finished on Friday feeling we would still be able to deliver some dental services above the core emergency service.

This is another week and another new chapter that none of us could have foreseen. With the country effectively in lockdown, we are now only able to see patients in need of urgent care. The risk of seeing anyone beyond this is just too high.

We also do not have access to the full PPE (personal protective equipment) that would ensure everyone’s safety during treatments so the range of emergency treatments we can offer also has to be limited. When asking the question of “What is the worst that can happen?” then clearly the only answer is that someone, in our team or yours, could pay the ultimate price of their life. The government guidelines couldn’t be clearer now as to self-isolation.

We want you all to be reassured that we will still be here for you. Our fabulous team here at EPD are working remotely and still taking calls and contacting you personally to cancel any forthcoming appointments. 

The dentists are still available for advice on the phone and we are happy to call you to discuss any of your concerns, however big or small! We are also providing urgent care should you need it, in this case, we will be speaking to you personally over the phone before deciding on the best way to proceed. Furthermore, we shall be keeping in regular contact throughout this lockdown, via email and social media, keeping you abreast of any changes to the situation, and answering any queries from your feedback.

Should you require any urgent care please ring our usual phone number - 01604 638102, even at weekends, whereby the call will be either answered or leave a message, and a dentist will get back to you shortly. For general concerns, feel free to email reception@eastparkdental.co.uk and we shall reply as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we are thinking of all of you who are members of our practice plan, and working out what we can do to ensure you are not left underserved. At the very least we will be putting on additional clinics to ensure we can see you as quickly as possible once we open up again. We will be fulfilling everyone’s plan entitlement where possible. If the closure continues, we will get in touch with further ways we plan to reimburse those who were due an appointment during this time.

We are so grateful for all of the kind words of support we have had over the last week. It will be a challenging time for a small business like ours, however, we are ensuring that our great members of staff will be fully supported financially during this time, and together, we are certain we will pull through this, coming out a stronger team.

Jo, Chris and the EPD Team