Phase one of Scotland’s practice ‘remobilisation’ underway
The first phase of Scotland’s plan to ‘remobilise’ dental practices gets underway today with an increase in the range of treatments available at urgent dental care centres (UDCCs).
Although practices should remain closed for face-to-face treatment, providing telephone triage only, in Glasgow they can now refer in patients with ‘green’ level problems. These include:
- Splinting/Dressing of deciduous and permanent teeth Stoning/smoothing teeth
- Re-cementing crowns/ inlays/bridges
- Denture repairs, additions and adjustments
- Orthodontic appliance repairs
However, practices have been urged not to “suddenly refer in nine weeks worth of low level problems”. They have been advised to only send new cases or, if necessary, carefully selected cases that can be resolved in a single intervention.
The next cohort of re-assigned GDPs are being inducted into the service in to cope with this demand and also maintain cover when PDS and HDS dentists are released to restart their own clinical services in phase two.
In the meantime, practices are being urged to implement the ‘recovery toolkit’ published by the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) in anticipation of phase two of the remobilisation plan; the reopening of practices for non-AGP urgent dental care.
The availability of PPE remains the key issue in setting the pace of remobilisation. It is understood that PPE is to be provided centrally and in sufficient quantities to ensure that each practice will be able to have one dentist, one nurse and one receptionist seeing up to 10 patients a day for non-AGP urgent care.
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