Dental practices will soon be able to deliver more NHS dentistry services after they were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In plans announced by the Scottish Government , services will be able to restart for patients from November 1 across Scotland.
While some were able to resume earlier, including urgent care, full NHS treatments have not yet resumed.
There may be some delays in getting back to “business as usual” because of the ongoing pandemic.
Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick thanked dentists for their efforts to care for patients during the pandemic said:
“The Government is committed to ensuring that the needs of patients to be seen for NHS dental treatment can be met in a way that supports efforts in practice to maintain the high standards of health and safety needed to minimise the threat from Covid-19″. Inverness Courier 13th October.
With more treatments and services soon to be offered in Scotland it will hopefully lead to NHS England following suit. It will therefore be important to describe your Covid-19 processes and procedures through the waiting room TV (notice boards and leaflets are now seen as a potential bio-hazard).
Make sure you are displaying your tretaments, clinics, services and dental ‘Health Plan’. If you don’t sell your services – who will?
Why not think about adding another layer of ‘bio-security’ by using a ‘Patient Call’ function. Your clinicians can call the next patient in from the waiting area or holding bay by using the electronic record system and the TV.
Using patient call to increase safety for staff and patients
A patient call system allows dentists and other clinical staff to call patients using the TV screen in their waiting room.
Whilst Diamond Court found the patient call system helped improve the efficiency of the practice before COVID-19, after reopening it has had the additional benefit of helping maintain new safety procedures.
Tara explains the benefits they have seen:
“We found the patient call system to be excellent in helping describe new safety requirements. It has meant the surgery team can press a button and remain in their dedicated room whilst preparing for the patient arrival. This reduces the time that it takes to fetch the patient but more importantly the footfall throughout the practice which in effect is making the dentist a very safe place to be for all.”
Diamond Court also benefit from the fact that the Envisage Dental TV patient call is fully integrated with EXACT. This means that patients can be called directly from the patient record within EXACT with a single click, saving even more time for the clinician.
Making use of new COVID-19 media
The practice has also taken advantage of the new COVID-19 media available on our Envisage Dental TV media library to increase awareness of the recent changes at the practice. This includes videos on new social distancing regulations, room cleaning procedures and the use of additional PPE at the practice.
Adding the videos to their screens has helped patients be clear about the new safety requirements and better understand any procedures they should follow. This makes patients feel more comfortable and relaxed whilst attending the practice.
More Information
For more information about the Envisage Dental TV patient call system, please give us a call on 0114 399 0019, or contact us here.
And remember, if you are a Software of Excellence user then we are offering a 3 month no commitment free trial of our patient call system for a limited time only.
