‘The Roadmap to Recovery’ to ‘Freedom Day’ to ‘Pingdemic’
We hope that we find you all well and enjoying these incredibly sunny days. During these difficult times, we have focused on effective communication to ensure our patients are regularly updated with Treetops news. With this in mind we wanted to touch base with you now that ‘Freedom Day’ has been and gone.
So many new phrases and words have engulfed our everyday lives over the past 18 months, with words or sayings such as; ‘Lockdown’ ‘New Normal’, ‘Social Distancing’, ‘Flattening the Curve’, ’Self Isolating’, ‘Freedom Day’, ‘PIngdemic’ and so many more! It is strange even writing this as they feel so normal now, yet who would have believed that these words and what they stand for would become so prevalent in our lives.
Freedom day; July 19th 2021, has come and gone and the rules in ‘social settings’ have eased, which we see as a sign of an underlying confidence, one which we all sincerely hope will continue to move us all in the right direction. In the meantime, I am sure everyone is aware that our media coverage is advising us to buckle in and hold on tight as we expect a bit of a rough ride over the next 6-8 weeks, whilst we all navigate this acute rise in cases and the subsequent peak in ‘pings’. The news reports that more than 600,000 people using the NHS Covid-19 app in England and Wales were sent self-isolation alerts in the week between 8th and 15th July (2021) Furthermore, in the same week over 1 million children were off school due to Covid related notifications. This has resulted in a nationwide shortage of staff and disruption in industries where people cannot easily work from home.
Our reasoning for writing to you is to reassure every one of our patients of three main points:
Our Covid Safety measures
Even though restrictions have been eased in social settings, in our health care environment; Treetops stringent safety measures are still rigorously implemented and adhered to. We ask all of our patients to continue to follow our Covid Safety Patient Journey eg: the wearing of masks, announcing your arrival via phone. The safety of our team, their families and friends and the safety of our patients are absolutely paramount. You can be assured that you are in a safe environment and in safe hands when you visit Treetops.
Our respect for your needs and your time
Please be absolutely assured that we would never rearrange your appointment unless we had no alternative. We have learnt so much over this pandemic, one crucial point being that no matter how well prepared we are, we cannot plan for the ‘ping’ and the subsequent need for self isolation.
As a practice we have been incredibly lucky to have remained open and this is due to the exceptional team of professionals who sport the Treetops Badge, they always go above and beyond to provide the highest level of care for our patients, yet with the best will in the world, at times we have had to rearrange appointments for patients. Sadly, over the past few weeks this has happened due to the pingdemic.
We want to share with you that we wholeheartedly understand this is not ideal, that it is frustrating for all of you on many levels. Please be assured if your clinician feels that your appointment is urgent they do inform the team and this is considered with every booking. The majority of our patients have been absolutely amazing and incredibly understanding, with many reminding us that this is not just Treetops it is a nationwide situation and not to worry. We thank each and every one of you for this as this has helped our reception team; Kerrie, Linda, Jodie and Kira’s days run a bit more smoothly when you are so understanding.
Our commitment to YOU
We illustrated from the first day of our National Lockdown on March 23rd 2020, That even when the going gets tough, we think outside the box; we improvised, we prepared and we delivered, albeit differently. The service we provided gave the majority of our patients; firstly the peace of mind that we were there in case they needed us and secondly, for those that needed dental advice and support we provided virtual consultations, hand delivered prescriptions and temporary filling kits. We provided emergency care for hundreds of our patients, relieved their pain and then prioritised their face to face treatment following our reopening on June 8th 2020. Since reopening we have done everything we possibly can to deliver as much dentistry and we absolutely assure you that we will continue to have YOUR dental health at the forefront of everything we do.
We hope that our letter has reassured you of our safety measures, our respect for you and our commitment to delivering the very best dental care.
We end our letter by thanking you for continuing to place your trust in Treetops and we assure you that our focus is always, ‘Patient Comes First’’.
The Treetops Team
