Page 81 - RADC Bulletin 2021

Refurb in the time of Corona
Maj K Blyth
‘The course of true refurbishment never did run smooth.’
(William Shakespeare, a misquote)
On being assigned Dental Centre Windsor as my next posting, I was very excited
to hear it was due a refurbishment the summer before my move. I think we can all agree, what a luxury to work somewhere brand new and designed for purpose! Obviously, things were not to be as straightforward as they first appeared, and the refurb start date was already delayed twice before I took over as the SDO in November 2019.
During my handover-takeover I was passed several plans, that to my unskilled eyes looked deliberately designed to bumfuzzle as they mostly consisted of squiggles and numbers. I was also given
the name of the Project Manager from Amey and the advice that, if in doubt,
rely on the experience of London-South’s knowledgeable Regional Practice Manager- WO1 Cat Boslem. This was sound advice, and I would recommend to anyone about to undergo a refurbishment to find out who in your region is the SME who you can turn to with your questions and get proper answers. In a similar vein, I also used this time to contact other dentists I knew, who had recently undergone refurbs, to hear their top tips and what to look out for that can easily go wrong.
After a few more planning meetings and many more emails a start date was finally set for April 2020. COVID-19 was starting to be discussed but at the time it was thought this was potentially just a bit of foofaraw that would settle down after a few months and not impact things much. How wrong we were.
Despite the closures of Dental Centres in March 2020 the refurb was still scheduled to start in April. The closures were in some ways a blessing as they gave my Practice Manager, Phaedra, and I plenty of time to empty and sort the contents of the Centre into a waiting shipping container (in a
socially distanced manner of course). This was obviously time-consuming work for just the two of us and we engaged the
help of the local Unit to move some of the heavier items (with neither of us being over 5-foot tall certain items would have been a struggle otherwise). If possible, plan these movements ahead and start clearing things out early as we discovered many unwanted items, including a cupboard bursting with the evidence of someone’s past envelope ordering addiction.
The actual refurb period was understandably extended due to COVID-19 which caused staff shortages and long wait times for material orders, but we were kept up to date with a weekly email from the Project Manager and it was fascinating to see the project developing.
As the end date approached, we were in a swivvet to see the completed centre. A final check round was booked in November 2020 with a plan to open a couple of weeks
afterwards. This is the time to be as fussy
as possible before Amey considers the project completed- check every nook and cranny carefully and report any issues (no matter how small) with them now so they can be fixed before opening. During our walk around we noticed some small paint issues and bubbles in the flooring as well
as some gaps that required sealing. Other issues I’ve heard about include flooring that doesn’t roll up to cabinets correctly and incorrect placement of X-ray equipment. Most of these items are quick fixes. Sadly, ours were not. We noticed there was no radiography warning light fitted which would be an obvious safety issue and would take weeks to order delaying our re-opening. At the same time, a major issue with the air quality testing not being completed correctly was noticed by the Project Manager. This resulted in further delays as we waited
on contractors to take up the brand-new surgery floor and sort out their mistake.
RADC BULLETIN 2021 79