The unfolding events of the COVID-19 pandemic have, and will continue for some time yet, to impact the lives of us all. This is to you to update you on the actions we are taking to support the Australian Government’s measures to reduce the rate of infection within the community.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday, 22 March 2020, I can confirm that Robelle Dental Centre continues to remain open.
The health and safety of our patients, their families and our staff has always been, and continues to be, a priority for us. As an accredited practice, we have always maintained the highest standards of sterilisation and hygiene protocols. Though the introduced social distancing measures currently do not apply to health care settings, we are being proactive in our measures and we want to reassure our patients and their families that we are taking additional precautions as we are updated by the State and Federal Health Departments, and our professional colleagues from the ADA.
Personal hygiene measures are still essential to control the spread of infection. Your routine activities should now already include:
- Washing your hands with soap and water regularly and thoroughly; this means for at least 20 seconds. Alcohol based hand rubs are also acceptable.
- Practicing social distancing, namely avoiding physical contact with others when possible, especially if you’re feeling unwell.
- Coughing or sneezing into your elbow or into a clean tissue, then throwing the tissue in the bin
- If you’re feeling sick or showing symptoms of coronavirus, you should call your GP for advice, they will tell you if you need to get tested.
As the current events unfold, we are changing the way we manage appointments in order to minimise patient contact. We are implementing a 15 minute gap between appointments in order to allow patients to enter and leave the practice with minimal/no interaction with the previous and next appointments. This will also allow us to complete an increased hygiene and infection control protocol to cover the waiting room and bathroom common areas of the practice between patients.
In order to minimise the potential increased social interaction and possible spread we would ask that you assist us by adhering to the following advice:
- If you feel unwell and are experiencing any of the following symptoms; fever, coughing or sneezing or having difficulty breathing; if you have been exposed to someone with the COVID-19 virus or have tested positive to COVID-19, please postpone your appointment until you are feeling better or have completed the 14 day quarantine period. If you have arrived from overseas you will also be required to quarantine for 14 days.
- If you are coming to your scheduled appointment after our staff have phone screened you for any of the above, please minimise the waiting room attendance by ensuring you arrive on time, not significantly early for your appointment. We also ask that you please do not bring friends, partners or any other family members into the practice who does not have a treatment appointment. Of course, parents can naturally still attend the appointment with their children.
We are also going to do our part to assist our families financially. We are going to introduce bulk billing for most procedures for children with eligibility under to Medicare Child Dental Benefits Scheme. This means that the vast majority of appointments for eligible children will not incur an out-of-pocket expense. We have also finalised our relationship with Afterpay and Zip Money should you wish to take advantage of their payment options.
We understand this is an evolving situation, and we are closely monitoring the advice each day and will strive to adapt our operations accordingly and implement appropriate plans to ensure the continued health and safety of our patients and staff.
We hope that you, our patients and families, know how much we care and value you and that we will continue to do everything we can throughout this unprecedented situation we find ourselves in.
If you need more information visit the Department of Health website.
