Christmas and New Year Opening Hours– Survey for Completion – Deadline 13 November

From the Dental Team:

Dear Provider

Each year, NHS England and NHS Improvement requires assurance that patients will be able to access urgent dental care over the Christmas and New Year period.  We are aware that many practices will still be providing predominantly urgent care leading up to Christmas. In line with previous years it is sufficient to provide only urgent care from the period 24th December to 3rd January inclusive.

Although AAA (advice, analgesia and where appropriate antimicrobials) can effectively manage urgent dental need over relatively short periods without the need for seeing a patient face to face, when it is clinically indicated practices must still see patients face to face. If your practice chooses to close you must have in place a buddy arrangement with a neighbouring practice.  This “buddy” practice must have the capacity to carry out AAA for your patients and when necessary see them for a face to face appointment.  It is acceptable for you to carry out AAA remotely with your buddy arrangement in place to see a patient face to face should this be required.  Where you are closed altogether with a buddy arrangement for all urgent care your practice answer phone and website must be updated to detail your buddy arrangements for normal working hours and Out of Hours service details for those periods.

Please be aware that it is not acceptable to refer patients needing face to face appointments either to Urgent Dental Care Hubs or to Out of Hours services.  The Hubs’ remit will not change and referrals should be made only in cases where you cannot carry out an aerosol generating procedure; Out of Hours services should be used by patients only where their dental pain starts outside of your normal practice opening hours.

Please follow this link https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=kp4VA8ZyI0umSq9Q55Ctv1ze_yYHqqxBhOuDt1izxeRUOEdLM0hERFZDM1pJN0k3NEVJTFlKNk4xUC4u and complete the survey to advise us what your practice’s arrangements will be over the Christmas and New Year period.  We require that this survey is completed by the start of business on Friday 13 November.  We are unable to accept a nil return to mean that a practice is operating its normal contracted hours.  We have a national return to submit and we need to provide your practice arrangement details to 111 and local dental helplines.

NHS England and NHS Improvement takes Christmas cover very seriously as it is of the utmost importance that emergency departments are not inappropriately overwhelmed by patients needing urgent dental care when this should be provided by their dental practice.  This is more important this year than ever before due to the ongoing pandemic situation together with the usual winter pressures that the NHS faces each year.  Completion of this survey is a contractual requirement and is being requested under clauses 211 and 212 of your General Dental Services contract or Personal Dental Services agreement.  A failure to provide the information by 13 November may result in a remedial and/or a breach notice being issued.