Following the government shut down of dentistry in March 2020,

our Ipswich practice was appointed one of the two Urgent Care Centres in Suffolk.

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The reception and nursing staff remained at the practice answering enquiries from our own patients and the dentists volunteered to help triage patients from the whole of the East of England, an area the size of Wales with double the population, with Paul leading the Suffolk team of 14 dentists covering the whole region on a Rota basis.

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Referrals were forwarded to sites, such as ours in Ipswich for treatment, involving the ‘high risk’ aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) which are such an integral part of clinical dentistry.

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We were referred patients with severe emergencies from Suffolk and North Essex, who were treated expediently, by our own staff and other volunteers from other practices.

 

It is reassuring to note that the cross-infection protocols which we always follow, and the additional PPE and procedures which we have been required to implement have resulted in the practice remaining ‘Covid free’.

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We are now at the point that we will begin to get back to a more normal practice situation.

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