Page 11 - RADC 2020

The global shortage of enhanced PPE meant that we could not operate as an emergency dental hub
of the virus was accelerating rapidly in Europe, we sought guidance from DPHC/ overseas RHQ. A decision was also made to put our operations on hold in line with the rest of the UK from the 23rd of March 2020.
Clinical staff and environment
Initially, the social distancing strict rules meant that we couldn’t provide a face to face treatment to our patients. Nevertheless, we engaged with the community through regular newsletters throughout the lockdown period and offered remote advice and assistance by phone where necessary.
However, we felt that we wanted to do more for our community and help as much as we could until we could operate safely. We created a ‘Self-Help Dental Toolkit’
App for our patients, including a simple to use ‘temporary filling repair kit’ which had
a mirror and a flat plastic in it. We felt that should there be a demand for such a kit; we would deliver it to our patients directly.
The Patient ‘Self-Help Dental Toolkit’ information slides were such a success that we also shared it with our overseas colleagues within DPHC. It was later used in the MOD newly developed ‘My Healthcare Hub’. We
were also awarded the 4* DSACEUR’s commendation medal for our contribution
to the wider British community in Belgium during the lockdown
- see Dental Centre SHAPE article.
A Prompt to Prepare
The global shortage
of enhanced PPE
meant that we could
not operate as an emergency dental hub.
In the weeks that followed, and with the fantastic help from the overseas RHQ team, we managed to secure our first supply of enhanced PPE and DPHC (Dental) had updated its SOPs in line with the guidance from the UK CDOs on the resumption of dental services.
As soon as we received our first supply of enhanced PPE, we communicated with our community, through the digital Newsletter, our plans to resume dental services.
However, we emphasised to our patients that the sequencing and scheduling of appointments for face to face treatment would take into account the following:
• The urgency of need; this would involve patients that had been registered for emergency care during the lockdown.
• The robust capacity of enhanced PPE to undertake the activity.
• Finally, the progression to the
resumption of the full range of routine dental care would be risk-managed
and closely monitored to enable us to deliver a service that is safe to our staff and community.
RESUMPTION OF ROUTINE DENTISTRY POST COVID-19 Patients’ perceptions
Our community had been through a lot over the lockdown period, and all of us were looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things changed, one thing remained the same: our commitment to their safety. Infection control has always been a top priority for SHAPE Dental Centre, and our infection control processes are made so that when our patients receive care, it is both safe and comfortable.
Patient and Staff safety
In our practice, patients now follow a strict pathway. We check them for pyrexia on arrival, and they follow sign-posted distancing measures throughout their attendance.
To describe our updated Infection Prevention Control (IPC) guidelines to our patients, we have created an infographic
‘patient’s journey’ slide and included it in our special COVID-19 community newsletter. The infographic slide simplistically outlined the process so that we can further reduce any risks of the virus transmission after the resumption of dental services.
Here are some of the messages given in the infographic slide:
• At the time of their dental appointment, patients were advised to stay in their car until they are called upon to enter the facility.
• Remote COVID-19 screening will be conducted before entering the facility.
• Hand sanitisers will be offered at the entrance of the practice and throughout the Healthcare Facility.
• We no longer offer items such as magazines and children’s toys, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• The sequencing of appointments will be managed to allow adherence to social distancing guidelines.
• Only attend the practice if you have an appointment.
• Wearing a mask in the facility is mandatory.
• Patients should come alone, except for children and patients with carers. • A distance of at least 2 metres must
be observed between all patients present in the healthcare facility.
• Patients were asked to contact us urgently if they develop COVID-19 related symptoms following an appointment with us.
What has the recovery been like?
The number of infections reported in SHAPE has been low throughout lockdown. However, we are experiencing some rise in numbers lately in specific areas of Belgium. But, on the other hand, the number of tests are also increasing quite significantly.
Although the British dental staff adhered to the UK/DPHC dental guidance for operations during the COVID-19 outbreak, the other NATO countries operating within the same environment operated quite differently. An example would be the difference between the national guidelines on fallow periods;
the German and Belgian dental teams did not implement any fallow periods after
AGPs procedures. In contrast, the American team had 15 minute fallow periods. As for us, to maintain our operations in line with
the UK guidelines, we had to adapt and mitigate those risks as much as possible while accepting that those differences continue to create difficulties to our operations. Nonetheless, it was a risk that we successfully balanced and continued to provide safe and effective dental care to our British community in Belgium.
Conclusion
Just because we are open again, doesn’t mean that we are back to normal. The COVID-19 outbreak has created enormous challenges for our profession globally. While many countries differed in the way they chose to restart their dental service during the pandemic, one common denominator was delivering safe dental care and maintaining the safety of our staff.
True leadership
We continue to learn more about the impacts surrounding COVID-19 for our profession as we have resumed our dental services. Nevertheless, we equally recognise the opportunities we have to make our practices safer and more efficient.
We believe dental practices around
the world can now be safer for patients
and themselves. The attention we have
paid to our patients’ journey and team members through positive and proactive communication will lead to increased confidence, commitment, and ultimately increase the capacity to deliver more routine services.
I believe true leadership does not necessarily come from a single individual
in charge of operations. By recognising
how we can make a difference for our community, the SHAPE Dental Team demonstrated the true essence of integrated leadership in the face of this outbreak.
RADC BULLETIN 2020 9