A letter from Paul Cushley, Dental Director at National Services Scotland indicates that funding for PPE in General Dental Services as in other Primary Care services will continue under the current arrangements until the end of June 2021. Download a copy of the letter
CDO Letter clarifying the position for dental practices following the further restrictions announced from 5th January 2021.
The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) has today issued a letter about the Level 4 COVID restrictions coing into force on Boxing day. The letter indicates that there will be no change to dental service provision during the Level 4 COVID restrictions. The letter also higlights the national infection prevention and control guidance and standard operating…
During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic when PPE supply chains were at risk, the European Commission issued an easement to relevant rules with the effect that non-CE marked PPE could be purchased and used subject to their approval by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). A decision has been taken to end this…
This memorandum, PCD(D) 2020 (14) advises NHS Boards of the opportunity to involve NHS dental contractors in the COVID-19 vaccination programme. Participation in the COVID immunisation programme is to be agreed by Boards and Area Dental Committees, depending on the overall requirements to deliver the programme. It is not mandatory for NHS dental contractors to…
Update 24th November: an updated version of the Standard Operating Procedures for Dental Teams was released. As previously indicated NHS dental services will be moving to phase 4 of the NHS Dental Remobilisation Plan from the 1st of November. From that date NHS dental contractors will be able to provide the full range of NHS…
This is a joint letter to all dental health professionals from the UK’s four Chief Dental Officers.
A new dental appendix to the recently published UK COVID-19: Guidance for the remobilisation of services within health and care settings is now available. The new guidance document can be viewed here The dental guidance seeks to ensure a consistent and resilient UK wide approach, though some differences in operational details and organisational responsibilities may…
In a letter released today, Tom Ferris CDO Scotland announced that, as of Sunday 1st November dental contractors will be able to provide a full range of dental treatments to NHS patients. This announcement follows the recent publication of the Scottish Dental Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) ‘Review of Aerosol Generating Provcedures in Dentistry’ which improves understanding…
Today the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) published their rapid review of the evidence related to the generation and mitigation of aerosols in dental practice and the associated risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Significant support for the review was provided by Cochrane Oral Health, a key partner in the project. The review is now available to…
Scotland’s Chief Dental Officer and NHS NSS Clinical Directorate address have written to dentists about the safety of the 3M 1863 FFP3 respirators provided by NHS Scotland to allow the provision of urgent aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) in practice.
A new Memorandum PCA(D)2020 (11) has been issued providing guidance on the provision of certain AGPs in practice from the 17th August. This includes the following ‘Rule of Thumb’ which should be followed until further definitive advice is available: For a treatment room with more than 10 air changes per hour (ACH) and which can…
This SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) on ventilation water and environmental cleaning in dental surgeries relating to COVID-19 was developed by a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) that included all devolved administrations, representatives from Public Health England (PHE) and academia (see table below). The purpose of the short life working group was to review and…
The Chief Dental Officer has issued a new letter outlining an amendment to the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR) in relation to dental examinations. Download a copy of the letter.
The COVID-19 Dental Services Evidence Review (CoDER) Working Group has just published its rapid review of Aerosol Generating Procedures and their Mitigation in International Dental Guidance Documents on Cochrane Oral Health The review is the work of a collaborative group of researchers and clinicians from a range of UK institutions, including the Scottish Dental Clinical…
As the lockdown measures continue to ease in Scotland it’s now possible to access a wider range of dental services within your local community As of 13th July 2020, we have updated our page: Dental Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic: information for patients in Scotland
Today sees the release of three important documents from The Scottish Government about the remobilisation of NHS dental services in Scotland.
SDCEP, with the support of Cochrane Oral Health, is coordinating a rapid review of the international evidence related to aerosol generating procedures in dental healthcare. The UK-wide working group is chaired by Prof. Jeremy Bagg and includes topic experts from medical virology and aerobiology as well as representatives from the general dental practice, hospital dental…
This letter from CDO Scotland confirms that Phase 3 re-mobilisation of NHS Dental Services can start from Monday 13 July, with NHS dental contractors able to see patients for non-aerosol routine care. Download a copy of the letter The SDCEP Practice Recovery Toolkit for Phases 2 and 3 is available to download from the SDCEP…
The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) have published a comparison of the five main UK documents published in recent weeks. While the layout of the documents varies the level of agreement across the source documents should provide reassurance to dental professionals in every area of the UK. Download Comparison of UK Return-to-Practice documents Note…