August 2024 marked 20 years since we took over Cornerways from Mr. David Wright. Looking back, the practice certainly has come a very long way in so many aspects. We can now claim that we are a very modern dental practice using the very latest equipment and techniques to still deliver the very highest level of care to our patients but still in a dignified and caring manner. Here’s to the next 20 years!

Team Update:

Graham Bell stepped in to Kirsten’s shoes over a year ago now and has displayed impressive dental and surgical skills. Graham qualified at Guys Hospital and after working for various dentists, started his own practice in Horsham in 1986 where he practiced for 30 years. Besides attending to the general dental requirements of his own patients, Graham has provided very competent root canal treatments and minor surgical procedures for our other patients as well.

Graham is married to Sarah and between them have 5 children and 7 grandchildren. In his spare time he enjoys cycling, swimming, the gym and walking.

Graham and Sarah love to travel and do various mission trips abroad mainly to Kenya where he provides dental care and Sarah provides reading glasses.

Fee Increase:

With so many new political and economic factors involved now, it was inevitable that we are having to increase our fees in order to remain viable and continue to provide the highest level of service to our patients.

As an example, a check up will increase to £80.00, a pair of bite wing X rays will increase to £42.00 and a routine hygienist appointment will increase to £80.00 for an approximately half hour appointment.

Direct access hygienist appointments will now be £85.00.

Children’s fees remain unchanged.

For those patients who are on the Cornerways Dental Plan, your monthly fees will now be:

Standard plan: £30.17

Plan+: £42.17

Plan H+: £46.33

Children: £3.95

Remember, we still offer families with children under the age of 18 the family discount of 5% off their total monthly direct debit.

Cornerways will honour treatment plans issued in 2024. These will still be valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

These increases will come into effect on 1 January 2025. Plan patients will see the increase to their monthly subscriptions starting 1 February 2025.

Road works:

As many of you have already experienced, the ongoing road works around us continues to cause significant traffic disruption and havoc for patients travelling in to see us. We will endeavour to keep you as up to date as possible with road closures but there have been times when we have not been given any notice. Please be aware that these roadworks appear to have become part of your journey to Angmering. Please take alternate routes and allow sufficient time for your journeys.

Patient feedback:

There are patient feedback forms in the waiting room along with a box in which to place them. We would really appreciate feedback from you regarding your experiences with us, good or bad. The CQC lists this as a requirement in order for us to gauge whether we’re providing the level of service demanded by our patients

Failed appointments:

There has been a marked decrease in the number of patients who fail to attend their appointments. This is in part due to our very clever, practice management system which automatically sends reminders out for upcoming appointments via e mail 4 days before and via text 2 days before our patients’ scheduled appointments. However, a small number patients still fail to attend. If you haven’t cancelled your appointment at least 48 hours before and fail to arrive, we may charge you for the failed appointment, depending on the reason for missing the appointment. Those patients who are on our Cornerways Dental Plan will have to forfeit that appointment until the next one is due, or else pay for a replacement appointment. Because we’re currently experiencing an increased work load, it is unfair on the operators to lose out on their income if someone fails and also it is unfair on other patients who could have had the appointment instead.

Holiday closures:

Cornerways will be closed from 23 December 2024 and will re open on 2 January 2025 for the Christmas break. If you have a dental emergency during this period, emergency telephone numbers will be left on the practice answer phone, 01903 782530. There will be a call out fee of £150.00.

Personal:

Our daughter, Danielle, has scaled down her sauce production due to the increased production and packaging costs. They are still available to purchase so please visit https://happyeatinghouse.co.uk/. In addition, she now works for a Swiss bank helping them to sort out their integration software.

Our son, Jason, and wife, Rosie and their little Jack Russell, Jonty, celebrated their first wedding anniversary in February. Rosie now works at Chailey Heritage helping children with a variety of disabilities with their dietary requirements. Jason is about to embark on a new venture in the new year providing physiotherapy services in the hospice environment including St. Barnabas and Chestnut Tree House.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a festive and happy Christmas and all the very best for 2025.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Brian and Jenny Hong and the Cornerways Team

The post Christmas Newsletter 2024 appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

It’s hard to believe that just 12 months ago we were having to deal with the arrival of the new variant of the Covid virus, Omicron. Now, after the heroic efforts of our scientists, vaccine manufacturers, the NHS for distributing the vaccines and providing the testing and vaccination centres we have arrived at a point where our lives are almost back to pre Covid days. The virus hasn’t gone, but it now mostly causes mild symptoms to most of those who become infected and not the lethal effects as we saw during the early days of the pandemic.

Looking back, it was in February that we here at Cornerways began relaxing our Covid protocols. We are now at the point where our procedures are at near the pre Covid period. We no longer insist on patients wearing a mask in to the practice and, hand sanitisation is voluntary. The infection control levy has been completely abolished. We do ask though, that patients should please update their forms when they receive their appointment reminders either by text or e mail. This includes the very important health screening and medical history. We do ask that if you have tested positive for Covid, or if you’re not feeling well please let us know and we can always re schedule your appointments. On this point, please do not attend if you have active cold sores. If these viruses are spread around, they can cause several unpleasant infections. Due to the very nature of what we do here at Cornerways, we feel that we still need to keep our patients’ and our own safety as a priority.

Equipment Update

We have just taken delivery of a 3Shape Trios 3 intraoral scanner. This will allow us to digitally take impressions of certain cases for crowns, bridges, whitening trays, splints, implants, Invisalign and even dentures. The system promises greater accuracy of our restorations due to some very ingenious software. Also, it will allow us to now effectively treat those patients who are not able to tolerate conventional impressions.

We will be implementing this scanner probably in the new year once we have undergone the necessary training.

Our CBCT scanner which we installed in February has been providing us with invaluable images in particular with regard to implant planning.

Fee Increase

It was inevitable that with energy prices soaring, the cost of our supplies soaring, due in part to global factors and the war in Ukraine, we are having to increase our fees in order to remain viable and continue to provide the high level of service to our patients.

As an example, a check up will increase to £70.00, a pair of bitewing X rays will increase to £35.00 and a routine hygienist appointment will increase to £70.00 for an approximately half hour appointment.

Direct access hygienist appointments will now be £75.00.

Children’s fees remain unchanged.

For those patients who are on the Cornerways Dental Plan, your monthly fees will now be:

Standard plan: £26.25

Plan+:              £36.75

Plan H+:          £40.10

Children:          £3.95

Remember, we still offer families with children under the age of 18 the family discount of 5% off their total monthly direct debit.

Cornerways will honour treatment plans issued in 2022. These will still be valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

These increases will come into effect on 1 January 2023. Plan patients will see the increase to their monthly subscriptions starting 1 February 2023

Failed appointments

Our very clever, practice management system, automatically sends reminders out for upcoming appointments via e mail 4 days before and via text 2 days before our patients’ scheduled appointments. However, a few patients still fail to attend. If you haven’t cancelled your appointment at least 48 hours before and fail to arrive, we may charge you for the failed appointment, depending on the reason for missing the appointment. Those patients who are on our Cornerways Dental Plan will have to forfeit that appointment until the next one is due, or else pay for a replacement appointment. Because we’re currently experiencing an increased work load, it is unfair on the operators to lose out on their income if someone fails and also it is unfair on other patients who could have had the appointment instead.

Cornerways team news

Laura, who was a dental nurse here at Cornerways for several years, has decided to move to Scotland and explore new pastures. All reports are that she is doing well and enjoying the challenge of living away from home. We wish her every success in her new venture.

We welcomed a new member of staff, Nicky Hodson, in November. Nicky is an extremely experienced dental nurse and has worked in the area for many years.

Mary-Lou is taking an extended break early in the new year and off to see the world. Those of you who were expecting to see her in early 2023 will see either Suzanne or our locum hygienist who will be covering for her.

On the 7 February 2023, Marco will be in attendance all day seeing his own as well as Brian’s patients. If you’re booked in on that day and if you’d prefer to see Brian please give us a call and we can re schedule your appointment for you.

Our grateful thanks must go to all our team members, dentists, hygienists and nurses for their hard work and dedication, particularly through some really difficult times. We really do appreciate the fact that we have the best team in the country!

Personal

Our daughter, Danielle, has just completed her stint at HSBC. She recently appeared on the Chanel 4 program,” Aldi’s Next Big Thing”, promoting her range of Chinese sauces. Although she didn’t win her section, the exposure she received was invaluable. You may like to try her range of sauces, please visit https://happyeatinghouse.co.uk/

Our son, Jason, and his fiancé, Rosie, are scheduled to tie the knot in Cape Town, on 24 February 2023. He now has the title of Senior Orthopaedic Physiotherapist at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

We’d like to wish you and your families a festive and happy Christmas.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Brian and Jenny Hong

The post Christmas Newsletter 2022 appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

COVID-19

The prime minister has now announced that it is no longer a legal requirement to isolate if you are tested positive for COVID-19. This is the last restriction to be lifted since this pandemic began 2 years ago.  We have arrived at this point through the efforts of our scientists who developed the vaccine as quickly as they did, the manufacturers who made and distributed the vaccines so rapidly and the NHS who not only managed to vaccinate most of the community but who also supplied all the testing facilities and developed new ways of treating those who suffered the worst effects of COVID-19. The virus has not gone but we are now able to live nearly normal lives always keeping in the back of our minds that we still need to be careful.

With this in mind, we here at Cornerways, have relaxed our protocols slightly in keeping with the prime minister’s announcement. We are now using our waiting room so there is no longer a need for you to wait in your car. From 1 March 2022, we will no longer be charging the non AGP (aerosol generating procedure) infection control levy for check ups and simple non AGP procedures. The AGP levy will remain for the foreseeable future for AGP procedures. We will still require patients to wear a mask when they are in the practice, we will still require you to sanitize your hand when you arrive, we will still check your temperatures as well. Due to the very nature of what we do here at Cornerways we feel that we still need to keep our patients’ and our own safety as a priority. All of the above hinges on the completion of a pre appointment health survey which is sent to you via text and e mail days before your appointment. If you answer yes to any of the questions or if there is any doubt about your health status, we would prefer it if you re scheduled your appointment.

Equipment update

Cornerways has recently installed a cone beam CT scanner. The old OPG machine produced excellent 2D radiographs but this new machine is able to produce images in 3D. This will help tremendously in diagnosis of various dental problems as well as giving us better images of various areas around the mouth to help with treatment planning for more complex cases.

Dental plan

A friendly reminder to those loyal patients on our dental plan, it is your responsibility to arrange and attend your appointments as offered by your plan. We do send out regular recalls if you are overdue for you appointments and we also send out regular reminders for appointments just before they are due. We do try and book future appointments when patients leave and e mails are sent within 10 minutes to confirm these. Failure to attend appointments and lapses in recall appointments are the patients’ responsibility.

Team update

Most of you have met Madina, our trainee dental nurse who has been with us for nearly a year and a half now. We are very pleased to announce that she is no longer a trainee as she has just received her exam results and she has passed! Madina has applied herself with enthusiasm, determination and grit. Her work ethic has been an inspiration to us all. All credit must go to her for her efforts and we are very pleased to have her as part of the team.

Please stay safe.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Cornerways Update appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

We feel that it’s still a bit too early to be letting our guard down but seeing that the government have already begun easing restrictions and with infection numbers apparently falling daily, we feel that we would start looking at how relaxing restrictions will affect the practice.

Most notably we will be making alterations to our appointment book. One of the restrictions placed on us was to leave a “fallow time” between patients to allow any infective particles to settle out of the air. We have now been instructed that this will no longer be necessary.

The Cornerways team have decided to adopt a modified appointment book starting 1 April 2022. This applies in particular to the hygienists appointments. So if you have appointments booked already from 1 April, please be prepared to receive notification of your appointment being moved slightly earlier or slightly later. If you’re unsure please give us a call to check for any changes.

In addition, the advice given also mentions that we no longer are required to use the enhanced PPE, particularly with regard to aerosol generating procedures (AGP). We feel that we feel safer wearing our current gear and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The above changes rely heavily on the completion of a pre appointment health screening to be completed by the patient. These are sent to you via text and e mail appointment reminders. There is a link in the reminder to fill in your forms. Please do these as it is the pivotal bit of information which will help us to continue to treat you safely. If you have any of the symptoms or if a member of your household is showing any symptoms we would prefer it if we simply re arrange your appointment.

When you arrive at the practice for your appointment now, you will no longer be required to wait in your car, please come into the practice, we will still be checking temperatures, sanitize your hands and you may be seated in the waiting room. We will attempt to have not more than 3 people in the waiting room at any one time.

Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Cornerways Update appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

Ironically, our profession has just been issued with new relaxed guidelines regarding what our Standard Operating Procedures should now be.

We feel that this is probably the worst time to relax any of our protocols and procedures. By the very nature of what we do and how we interact with our patients we have decided that we will be continuing as we have been for the last 18 months.

We will review and reassess our protocols in the Spring and decide how best to implement them.

As mentioned in our previous update pre appointment health screening will be essential. Even if you have been fully vaccinated and received your booster or regularly undergo lateral flow testing, this is an extra layer of protection for everyone. Your health screening questionnaire and medical history updates are sent to you in your appointment reminders either by text or e mail.

The new guidance relies heavily on these health screening questionnaires. These are the basis for how we undertake your treatment in the surgery.

By doing these online, it certainly makes things a lot easier for us and streamlines your journey through the practice. If you do not have access to the internet, please remember to call us just before your appointment and we can do the health screening and updates over the phone.

When you arrive at the practice for your appointment, you may wait in your car until you are called in (please park facing the reception area so that you are able to see us when we call you in), let us know by whatever means that you have arrived. Alternatively, you may come in and wait in our waiting room if it is too cold to wait outside. We will attempt to have not more than 3 people in the waiting room at any one time.

We will continue to check temperatures when you arrive, hands must be decontaminated and social distancing within the common areas of the practice will be enforced.

Fee Increase

Regrettably we are going to have to increase our fees next year. We have not had a fee increase since the end of 2018. The effect of the pandemic, Brexit and a host of other factors has made this decision necessary if the practice is to remain viable.

As an example, a check up will increase to £65.00, a pair of bite wing X rays will increase to £33.00 and a routine hygienist appointment will increase to £65.00 for an approximately half hour appointment.

Children’s fees remain unchanged.

For those patients who are on the Cornerways Dental Plan, your monthly fees will now be:

Standard plan: £24.50

Plan+:              £34.50

Plan H+:          £37.50

Cornerways will honour treatment plans issued in 2021. These will still be valid for 6 months from date of issue.

These increases will come in to effect on 1 January 2022, Plan patients will see the increase to their monthly subscriptions starting on 1 February 2021.

Infection control levy

Our infection control levy will remain in place for the foreseeable future. We introduced this levy at the height of the pandemic when we returned to work after the first lock down. The levy was introduced in order help the practice cover the cost of putting in to place all the necessary equipment, procedures and protocols to allow us to continue to provide as normal a dental service to our patients as possible. This is an ongoing expense and does not only include what you may see in the surgery, there is an awful lot that happens in the background that you may not be aware of. For those patients on our plan, the infection control levy is not included in your dental plan and must be paid for at the end of each appointment. This was because we were hoping that one day we would be simply be able to discard them. Our levy, as far as we can tell, is very reasonable compared to other practices around us.

From next year, non AGP levy will remain at £5.00 and AGP levy will increase to £10.00.

Cornerways team news

Linda, who has been at Cornerways for over 20 years, has decided to leave to dedicate more time to her foot health care business. We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude for her services here at Cornerways and wish her every success with her business.

Our hygienists, Suzanne, Mary-Lou, Gayle and Alison have been exceptionally busy but they have coped really well despite some challenges for some of them. The support provided by the nursing team of Katy, Laura and Madina has been phenomenal and our gratitude goes out to the whole team for their input and dedication during some extremely difficult times.

Incidentally, our trainee dental nurse, Madina, passed her first exam in October with flying colours! Only 2 more to go and she will be a qualified dental nurse!

Personal

Our daughter, Danielle, now has a permanent position at HSBC but is still continuing her sauce business but with more of an online presence than before. You may like to try her range of Chinese sauces at https://happyeatinghouse.co.uk/

Our son, Jason, just recently became engaged to Rosie and are planning a wedding for early 2023. Jason is currently working his trauma rotation as a physiotherapist at Brighton Hospital.

We’d like to wish everyone a safe, festive and happy Christmas. Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Brian and Jenny Hong

The post Christmas Newsletter 2021 appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

We feel that this would be a good time to re assess our current position regarding our practice protocols, particularly with regard to the pandemic.

Most establishments have relaxed many of their restrictions and it is wonderful to feel like we are returning to some semblance of normality.

However, due to the nature of what we do, we do not believe that now is the time to be complacent. Infection numbers are still high, and although our vaccination program has been phenomenal, we believe that relaxing any of our protocols here at Cornerways would be too risky for ourselves and for our patients. Many of you have already received your booster jabs and we would strongly advise that you have your flu jabs as well.

As mentioned in our previous update pre appointment health screening will be essential. Even if you have been fully vaccinated or regularly undergo lateral flow testing, this is an extra layer of protection for everyone. Your health screening questionnaire and medical history updates are sent to you in your appointment reminders either by text or e mail. By doing these online, it certainly makes things a lot easier for us and streamlines your journey through the practice. If you do not have access to the internet, please remember to call us just before your appointment and we can do the health screening and updates over the phone.

When you arrive at the practice for your appointment, you may wait in your car until you are called in (please park facing the reception area so that you are able to see us when we call you in), let us know by whatever means that you have arrived. Alternatively, you may come in and wait in our waiting room if it is too cold to wait outside. We will attempt to have not more than 3 people in the waiting room at any one time.

We will continue to check temperatures when you arrive, hands must be decontaminated and social distancing within the common areas of the practice will be enforced.

We will still maintain our high level of PPE when performing dental procedures here in the practice and we will still stick rigidly to our infection control protocols. This is not only to protect ourselves but also to protect our patients.

Infection control levy

Our infection control levy will remain in place for the foreseeable future. We introduced this levy at the height of the pandemic when we returned to work after the first lock down. The levy was introduced in order help the practice cover the cost of putting in to place all the necessary equipment, procedures and protocols to allow us to continue to provide as normal a dental service to our patients as possible. This is an ongoing expense and does not only include what you may see in the surgery, there is an awful lot that happens in the background that you may not be aware of. Our levy, as far as we can tell, is very reasonable compared to other practices around us.

Cornerways team news

Both Suzanne and Mary-Lou have had health issues recently and both have undergone surgical procedures this last year. Both have recovered well and are back at work. Currently we are experiencing some unexpected staffing issues so we ask you to please be patient with us as we may need to alter your appointments at short notice.

Road works

We have received notification that there will be road works in Water Lane and High Street from 18 to 25 October. For more information see http://streetworks.org.uk/live-traffic-works-map/.

Please be aware that this will certainly impact on the traffic in and out of the village and on your journey times to the practice. Kindly allow for sufficient time for your journey as if you are too late for your appointment, we may not be able to see you.

For now, follow the guidance, stay safe.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Cornerways Update 17-10-2021 appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

As we slowly and cautiously emerge from lockdown and reflect on our current situation we must firstly thank all our patients for their cooperation, understanding and encouragement. We would not be able to function the way we do without the full backing and support of our patients. Many thanks.

However, we do not believe that now is the time to be complacent. Infection numbers are still high, thanks to the new delta variant, and although our vaccination program has been phenomenal, we believe that relaxing any of our protocols here at Cornerways would be too risky for ourselves and for our patients.

As mentioned in my previous update pre appointment health screening will be essential. Even if you have been fully vaccinated or regularly undergo lateral flow testing, this is an extra layer of protection for everyone. Your health screening questionnaire and medical history updates are sent to you in your appointment reminders either by text or e mail. By doing these online certainly makes things a lot easier for us and streamlines your journey through the practice.

We will continue to check temperatures when you arrive, hands must be decontaminated and social distancing within the common areas of the practice will be enforced.

We will still maintain our high level of PPE when performing dental procedures here in the practice and we will still stick rigidly to our infection control protocols. This is not only to protect ourselves but also to protect our patients.

Hygienst and staff issues

In August we anticipate some disruption to the practice as Suzanne will be taking time off for a surgical procedure. Those of you who have appointments booked with Suzanne in August will have your appointments moved to our locum hygienist or one of our other hygienists and possibly on a different day. If you specifically still want to see Suzanne then please let us know and we will book you in as soon as she returns. Mary-Lou is still recovering from her surgery and is only scheduled to return to work at the end of August. In the meantime, Alison and Gayle will still be in attendance on their allotted days.

Katy, our receptionist/dental nurse, will be taking time off as well in August for jury service for an, as yet, undetermined period of time.

Road works

We have received notification that there will be road works in Water Lane commencing end of July. Apparently, they will be in place for several weeks. Please be aware that this will certainly impact on the traffic in and out of the village and on your journey times to the practice. Kindly allow for sufficient time for your journey as if you are too late for your appointment, we may not be able to see you.

Ongoing Education

Thanks to Louise Yeates from Embrace DNT who provided the team with an update on Basic Life Support in May. This is a key element to any dental practice as we all need to know what we should be doing when there is a medical emergency.

Later this month, Louise will be updating us on current Infection Control Protocols which in this current climate will take on far greater relevance than ever before.

For now, follow the guidance, stay safe.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Cornerways Update appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

Coronavirus update

Following the prime minister’s announcement last night, the U.K. is now in lockdown 3.0. This has been implemented due to the alarming rise in infection numbers throughout the country. The new variant of the coronavirus has been blamed for this as it appears to be a lot more infectious although not seeming to cause any escalation in disease or symptoms. This means that we all have to stay at home and only leave for specific reasons as outlined in the guidance published by gov.uk. One of the exceptions is for health reasons. Gov.uk also recommends closure of all non -essential retail but doctors and dentists can remain open.

For these reasons, Cornerways will still re-open on 7 January 2021 as planned. However, we will need to be even more rigid in our infection control protocols if we are to provide dental care in an acceptably safe manner.

As mentioned in my previous update pre appointment health screening will be essential unless you qualify for the alternative criteria mentioned. i.e. NHS workers who are self- testing, if you have been fully vaccinated, if you can show positive antibodies from a recent positive exposure or if you’re happy to undergo a lateral flow test immediately prior to your appointment. You will not be permitted to enter the premises unless you comply with these criteria.

One point I’d like to mention is that we have structured our appointment book in such a way as to allow sufficient time between patients so as to minimize the risk of transmission from one patient to another. You may have noticed that we try very hard to stick to this schedule and run on time. If, due to unforeseen circumstances you run very late for your appointment, please inform us and we will book you another appointment. We will not be able to see you if too much of your scheduled time has elapsed as this will then have a domino effect into all subsequent appointments for that day, thus compromising safety.

We will continue to check temperatures when you arrive, hands must be decontaminated and social distancing within the common areas of the practice will be enforced.

We will still maintain our high level of PPE when performing dental procedures here in the practice and we will still stick rigidly to our infection control protocols. This is not only to protect ourselves but also to protect our patients.

However, we fully understand that not everyone will be keen to come to the dentist during these very trying times for a multitude of reasons. So, if you have an appointment booked and do not wish to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can assign your appointment to someone else.

As you are well aware, this is a continually changing scenario for all of us and we will try to keep our ears as close to the ground as possible. We will endeavour to keep you as up to date with any new developments as and when they happen.

For now, follow the guidance, stay safe.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Lockdown 3.0 appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

Cornerways will re-open on 7 January 2021 as planned. However, we will need to be even more rigid in our infection control protocols if we are to provide dental care in an acceptably safe manner.

For now, the pre appointment health screening is still our simplest way of ensuring patients do not arrive for their appointments if there is any question as to their current health status. We have two online screening methods, one provided by our practice management software and forms part of the patient portal and one provided by Denscreen. Both are simple questionnaires to be done by the patient on their computers or mobile devices at home. Please inform us if you are not able to access these and we’ll try send you the alternative. These are automatically sent back to us once they are completed. For those without online access we use a manual questionnaire which the patient answers questions over the phone before their appointment. These need to be completed for every appointment whenever there is a gap of more than 3 days between appointments.

With the rapidly developing picture of the pandemic, there will be exceptions allowed to the pre appointment health screening.

• Many of our patients who work within the NHS now test themselves with the rapid lateral flow antigen test kits. They test themselves twice weekly and record their results. If your last test was negative, then we will not require you to complete the questionnaire.
• If you have been fully vaccinated and have evidence of this, you will not be required to complete the questionnaire.

• If you have recently tested positive for the virus and at least 4 weeks have elapsed since the cessation of symptoms and you have evidence to show that you have antibodies present in your system, then a questionnaire will not be required. We are still able to provide antibody testing for a fee of £65.00.
• We now have the capability of doing our own lateral flow antigen tests here at the practice. It involves taking a nasal or throat swab and placing it into a testing module. Results are available within minutes. This is a voluntary option and can be done while you wait in your car prior to your appointment. There will be a charge of £20.00 for this option. A negative test means we can proceed as normal, a positive test will mean you will need to follow up with a PCR test at one of the NHS testing facilities.

We will continue to check temperatures when you arrive and social distancing within the common areas of the practice will be enforced.

We will still maintain our high level of PPE when performing dental procedures here in the practice and we will still stick rigidly to our infection control protocols. This is not only to protect ourselves but also to protect our patients.

However, we fully understand that not everyone will be keen to come to the dentist during these very trying times for a multitude of reasons. So, if you have an appointment booked and do not wish to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can assign your appointment to someone else.

As you are well aware, this is a continually changing scenario for all of us and we will try to keep our ears as close to the ground as possible. We will endeavour to keep you as up to date with any new developments as and when they happen.

For now, follow the guidance, stay safe.

Regards,

The Cornerways Team

The post Coronavirus Update appeared first on Cornerways Dental Practice.

At a time like this I do not believe that it would be appropriate for me to re hash the nuts and bolts of practice protocols, portals and policies, heaven knows I’ve published enough of these updates over the last 6 months. Instead, I would very much like to address the overwhelming sense of gratitude I have at this moment.

I am extremely grateful for the fact that my team and the patients we have treated since the end of lockdown 1 have remained healthy. In June, we didn’t have clear, decisive guidelines as to what was considered safe in order to provide proper dental care for our patients while keeping ourselves safe, simply because this virus was so new. The fact that we have remained healthy throughout is due in large part to our rigorous infection control policies which we have stuck to religiously.

I am grateful that our profession, our sector of the economy, has not been too adversely affected by the pandemic. Lockdown 1 was extremely damaging as we were forced to close completely. However, we have come back fighting! My deepest sympathies go out to those whose livelihoods depend on hospitality, travel and entertainment to name but a few. I am very appreciative of the fact that we are still fully operational and I am determined to see to it that this will continue.

I am very grateful to my team here at Cornerways. Every one of them, nurses, hygienists, receptionists and associates have risen to the challenge placed before us by the pandemic. All of them have gone above and beyond the call of duty to see to it that the practice continues to operate as close to normality as possible in the most difficult of circumstances. The longer hours, the added PPE, the additional work load, the change to operating procedures has led to many heated exchanges. However, we’re still in one piece and even more determined to do even better in future.

I am grateful to our scientists who have worked tirelessly to develop vaccines which have the potential to bring an end to this pandemic so that we may begin to resume our lives as normal again. The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to approve the use of the first vaccine and Canada and the United States have since given their approval as well. The vaccination program will be a complicated one and we’re only likely to see the effect on the population towards the end of next year. But this is the feint light at the end of the long dark tunnel. This light will become brighter and brighter as the months go by.

Last and by no means least, I am grateful to you, our patients. Thank you all for your patience, understanding, co-operation, compliance and sympathy during the extremely difficult last few months. I would like to extend a special thank you to those of you who have had to tackle the new online forms. We do realise that there have been issues but we are working on a solution. Thank you too for the encouragement, the gratitude and good wishes many of you have expressed for the care you have received from us. It means an awful lot to receive such feedback.

NO FEE INCREASE

There will not be a fee increase next year! Due to the ever-changing situation, we have decided this would not be an appropriate time to increase our fees.

Those patients on our dental plan will also see no changes to their monthly contributions.

Our infection control levy will also remain at £5.00 for non aerosol generating procedures and £9.00 for aerosol generating procedures for all patients and applies per appointment. These amounts are very reasonable compared to many other dental practices in our area.

CHRISTMAS CLOSURES

Cornerways will be closed after Friday 18 December 2020 and will re-open on

7 January 2021. Should you require emergency dental treatment during this time, an emergency contact number will be on the answer phone. This service is strictly for emergencies only. Alternatively, you could contact the Emergency Dental Service on 01903 230364.

PERSONAL

Jenny has fully recovered from her full knee replacement surgery in November last year and has returned to golf with renewed enthusiasm. Special mention must be made here about the orthopaedic unit at the Horder Centre in Crowborough, they were fantastic!

Our daughter, Danielle, has taken on some contracting work with Abbott Laboratories to run in conjunction with her oriental sauce business. She still cooks, bottles and sells her own brand of sauces under the name of “Happy Eating House”. She currently sells her sauces mainly at Victoria Market in London but these are also available to buy on line.

Our son, Jason, has now completed his Masters degree in Physiotherapy at

St. George’s in London. He is currently working in the musculo-skeletal unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath. Incidentally, I am very grateful that he received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine last week and will receive his booster before the end of the year.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for a safe and healthy 2021.

Thank you for your continued support.

Brian Hong

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