Welcome to our dental practice
Information for patients 3rd July 2023
Mike Wiktor will be leaving the practice on Tuesday 18th July. We would like to wish him every succuss for his future as he moves on to develop a specialist career.
We are currently advertising for a replacement dentist. During this transition period, Richard Williams and Stephen Teenan will continue to see all NHS patients for urgent care. Please contact the practice in the normal way if you require urgent treatment. Mr Williams and Mr Teenan will also see some non-urgent cases where time allows. However, we will be prioritizing Urgent care and children during this time.
If you have an upcoming appointment booked with Mike Wiktor we will contact you if this needs to be rearranged. Please avoid contacting the practice for updates. Our website will be updated with any new information. This will be a very busy time for our receptionists and we must keep our phone lines open to assist with urgent care.
We will do everything in our power to ensure as little disruption as possible. We appreciate your patience during this challenging time.
During this transition period our books are currently closed to all new patients for routine care. Private and NHS.
At Dalkeith House Dental Practice, our aim is to provide high quality care and treatment in a relaxed, comfortable and safe environment. We are committed to continuing education and keeping up with the changes in modern dentistry. Most of all we encouarge preventative techniques - helping you to maintain the health of your mouth and keep it free of tooth decay and gum disease.
At Dalkeith House Dental Practice, we achieve the best results for our patients through clear policies and systems and appropriately trained and competent team members. We evaluate our practice on a regular basis through audit, peer review and patient feedback and monitor the effectiveness of our quality assurance procedures.
In our commitment to assuring the quality of the service we offer, as a team the practice has obtained membership of the BDA good Practice Scheme. Membership of the Scheme demonstrates our commitment to working to recognised standards of good practice.
This site will provide you with useful information about our dental practice and the services we offer. It will enable you access a broad range of dental information to help keep you and your family dentally fit.
Remember, you can access this site any time of the day or night at your convenience.
We are always keen to hear your views so please feel free to contact the practice if you have any comments concerning the website or the services that we offer.
Notice to patients 5th April 2022
Dalkeith House no longer operates with a closed-door policy. The front door is now open, and patients can attend via either entrance. We will no longer maintain a one-way system. However, we would like to ask patients to be mindful of vulnerable patients and maintain a safe space. It has been lovely having more interactions with patients at reception. Our reception is once again fully operational for face-to-face management. We really appreciate all the positive feedback we have been receiving. Our team have worked incredibly hard over the past 2 years and it is good to see this has not gone unnoticed. As we enter our “new normal” some safety precautions will remain in this healthcare setting until further notice.
Face masks are required for all patients and staff unless medically exempt.
Covid screening prior to your appointment will be necessary. This is vital for us to determine appropriate care pathways for our patients.
Deferral of treatment for symptomatic patients and close contacts Although there is no legal requirement for the general public to test or isolate, we take precautions to ensure symptomatic patients or potential risks are appropriately managed for the safety of our patients and staff. You will be asked to rearrange non urgent appointments if you or a close contact are unwell. Please see the updated list of covid symptoms below:
The covid symptoms have now changed, see below.
Symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) can include:
- a high temperature or shivering (chills) – a high temperature means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
- shortness of breath
- feeling tired or exhausted
- an aching body
- a headache
- a sore throat
- a blocked or runny nose
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea
- feeling sick or being sick
The symptoms are very similar to symptoms of other illnesses, such as colds and flu.
Notice to patients 17th July 2021
As you will know, the Prime Minister has confirmed that public restrictions will significantly ease on 19th July. Under the Government's guidance
"Health and care settings will continue to maintain appropriate infection prevention and control processes as necessary and this will be continually reviewed. Guidance will be updated based on the latest clinical evidence this summer."
You can find this online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19- response-summer-2021-roadmap/covid-19-response-summer-2021#contents
In line with the Government’s guidance, England’s Chief Dental Officer Sara Hurley has informed us that the infection prevention control measures in dentistry should continue to be followed until further notice. These are important measures from Public Health England aimed at limiting the spread of the virus in dental settings. We’re also continuing to follow NHS dentistry’s standard operating procedure which helps us make this guidance work.
This means three things for patients:
- If you need to come into the surgery for an appointment, please remember that social distancing remains in place in the dental practice and to wear a face covering upon entering the building.
- We will continue to have restrictions on leaving time between patients to ventilate rooms if we perform an aerosol generating procedure. An aerosol generating procedure (AGP) is a medical procedure that can result in the release of airborne particles (aerosols) from the respiratory tract when treating someone who is suspected or known to be suffering from an infectious agent transmitted wholly or partly by the airborne or droplet route. In dentistry, for example, this means the use of something like a high speed drill. This impacts how many patients we can fit into a working day.
- We are also following the Chief Dental Officer’s advice that we should prioritise patients for treatment based on urgency and priority groups, such as those more at risk of dental disease or children.
Similar public health measures are still in place for hospitals and GP practices, too. Every dental practice is working extremely hard to provide care to our patients within the restrictions and guidance to ensure it’s safe to visit the dentist.
We hope that this helps clarify why these measures are in place for every NHS dental practice. Please do give us a call if you think you need to see us, we’re open for patients.
Please see previous updates and our patient info section for more information and for details of our Covid-19 Patient Pathway.
Best wishes,
All the team at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 12th April 2021
We are open – Please call the surgery to book an appointment.
(see below for more details)
We are currently able to book urgent and routine appointments (depending on availability). We are still operating within limitations. Please see previous updates for more information. Patients currently waiting for or under treatment will be contacted depending on the clinical need as previously discussed with your dentist. However, these patients are encouraged to contact the surgery if they are experiencing pain or further problems. You may need to be reassessed. Any routine appointments are deemed a provisional booking. We may need to rearrange any routine care to make way for urgent cases as required during this time. Appointments can only be arranged by telephone.
Please contact the surgery on 01425 474171 or 01425 473688.
- For urgent care please contact as early as possible from 9.00am.
- For routine care, advice or returning our requests for contact please call between the hours of 10.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday.
Our phone lines are very busy and this is likely to remain the case for the duration of the pandemic and beyond. Please be patient, I can assure you our receptionists are working tirelessly to answer your calls.
Our phone lines when required may be switched to emergencies only. This will only happen as a necessity, due to staffing limitations or staff training. If you are contacting during this time, please only call the mobile number provided on the answerphone message for genuine emergencies. We will not be able to assist with routine care during this time.
Please see previous updates and our patient info section for more information and for details of our Covid-19 Patient Pathway. Please also visit our In an Emergency section for more information of what to do in an emergency along with some self-help advice during a pandemic.
Once again thank you for your patience and understanding during this very challenging time.
Stay safe and best wishes for all the team at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 4th January 2021
Following the prime minister’s announcement this evening Monday 4th January 2021, the country is now in a national lockdown. We would like to confirm there will be no change to our current working procedures. We will remain open during this time. We would like to reassure our patients that although we have now re-entered alert level 5 (critical), a lot has changed for us in dentistry compared to our previous lockdown at this alert level last March. We now have all the necessary procedures in place and appropriate PPE in practice to protect our patients and our team during this time. We remain COVID secure. Medical appointments are exempt from the stay-at-home order and this includes urgent and non-urgent dentistry. We are still working at a reduced capacity. Therefore, our priority remains with urgent cases where necessary. All scheduled appointments with a dentist or hygienist remain unless we contact you otherwise. If you consider yourself to be extremely clinically vulnerable or if you were advised to shield last year, we would recommend you cancel your appointment until we receive further guidance surrounding your tailored care. However, in the meantime, if you have an emergency or require advice please do not hesitate to contact the surgery in the usual way.
If you have an appointment scheduled and would prefer not to attend the practice during this time please contact the surgery. We recommend calling the practice between the hours of 10.00am – 4.00pm for non-urgent matters. Our phone lines are open from 9.00am for emergencies. For all other enquires please avoid calling during this time as our call volumes will be very high. Please be patient when trying to contact the surgery I can assure you our receptionists are working tirelessly to answer your calls.
Please see previous updates and our patient info section on this website for more information and details of our Covid-19 Patient Pathway. Please also visit our In an Emergency section for information of what to do in an emergency along with some self-help advice during a pandemic.
Once again thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time.
Stay safe and best wishes for all the team at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 30th December 2020
Following the latest government update our practice will move into tier 4 from tomorrow, Thursday 31st December 2020. We would like to reassure our patients that we will remain open during this time. There will be no change to our current working procedures. Our priority remains with urgent cases, but where we have capacity to do so we will continue with some more routine care. If you have an appointment booked this will go ahead as planned unless we contact you otherwise. Medical appointments are exempt from the stay-at-home order, please rest assured we have everything in place to keep you safe during your visit. However, if you would prefer not to attend during this time please contact the surgery in the usual way. We recommend calling the practice between the hours of 10.00am – 4.00pm for non-urgent enquiries. Our phone lines are open from 9.00am for emergencies. Please see previous updates below for more information. Please also visit our Practice Info section on this website for further information and details of our Covid-19 Patient Pathway. This will give you an insight into how we are operating at the moment and what to expect if you do attend the practice during the pandemic. Please also visit our In An Emergency section for information of what to do in an emergency along with some self help advice during a pandemic
Stay safe and happy new year from all at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 1st November 2020
Following the Prime Ministers announcement on Saturday 31st October I can confirm the practice will remain open during the planned national 4-week lockdown starting Thursday 5th November. There will be no change to our current working procedures. Please see previous updates for more information.
The Prime minister has advised the public to keep up with health care appointments. I can confirm we are COVID secure. We are a clinical environment with very high standards in infection control. We have all the necessary PPE and protocols in place to keep our patients and staff safe during this time.
Please avoid calling the practice for general enquires. We are experiencing high call volumes at the moment and need to keep our phone lines accessible for patients in pain. If you have an appointment scheduled, we will contact you to prescreen the appointment as detailed in previous updates or make changes if necessary. If you need to cancel or book an appointment please contact the surgery in the usual way.
Once again thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time. Our staff would also like to pay particular thanks to those patients who have written letters, left positive feedback and kind words of encouragement. It is lovely to be recognized for a great team effort.
Stay safe and best wishes from all at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 1st September 2020
What we achieved since our last update and what you can expect now.
As planned the practice has now resumed some routine care. The dentists are now seeing patients for routine checkups and our hygienists have returned to the practice. There remain limitations on some of the services we can provide at this time. Due to the necessary changes in our practice procedures we have limited surgery time for routine care. Our capacity has been significantly reduced. Our priority remains with urgent care cases. As a result, it is likely you may experience some difficulties booking appointments.
We have now reopened our phone lines. Please be patient when trying to contact the surgery, I can assure you our team are working tirelessly to answer your calls. Please avoid calling for routine enquiries during the early mornings, especially on a Monday as these tend to be high volume times for emergencies. Our phone lines are also likely to be switched to emergencies only from time to time depending on staffing levels.
We do appreciate that we have a number of patients awaiting treatment. During this time and with the current alert level considered, treatments involving aerosol procedures will only be carried out if deemed essential by your dentist. This is in line with current guidance from our governing bodies. The safety of our patients and that of our team continue to be our priority. However, we do not expect any patients to suffer with pain or problems during this time. Please do not hesitate to contact the surgery in the usual way if you are experiencing a problem or if you wish your case to be reviewed.
Please visit our Practice Info section on this website for further information and details of our Covid-19 Patient Pathway. This will give you an insight into how we are operating at the moment and what to expect if you do attend the practice during the pandemic. Please also visit our In An Emergency section for information of what to do in an emergency along with some self help advice during a pandemic.
The following advice remains unchanged;
We will continue to maintain a closed-door policy for the foreseeable future. Please do not attend the practice without an appointment. Our clinical team will be unable to assist you at the door.
If you have an appointment scheduled within the next few months, that was booked prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, it is likely your appointment will need to be rearranged. One of our team will contact you in due course. All appointments must now be pre-screened.
If you are a DPAS plan patient and you have had a routine appointment cancelled, we will do our best to rearrange your appointment as soon as we can. Where this has not been possible, we will assess you on a case by case basis and discuss your options with you at a later date. We will ensure your plan remains a financial benefit to you. Please contact the surgery to rearrange appointments if you have not yet heard from us.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.
Kind regards and best wishes
All the team at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 1st July
What we have done over the last month, and what you can expect in the coming weeks.
The practice resumed face to face care on Monday 22nd June. Appointments were prioritized and offered to patients that had contacted the surgery for urgent care during lockdown. I am pleased to report we have now offered appointments to all of those patients in need, with the exception of a few patients we have been unable to contact. This will remain an ongoing task for our team.
We are hoping to resume some routine care, including welcoming back our hygienists late July/early August. Due to the current guidance from our governing bodies there remains limitations on the services we can offer. It is likely this will be the case for some time. The safety of our patients and that of our team continue to be our priority.
For patients with incomplete treatment, you will be contacted and offered an appointment as soon as we resume these services. However, please do not hesitate to contact the surgery if you are in pain or experiencing a problem. Please continue to contact the surgery in the usual way.
We currently have a limited team working within the practice during this time. Therefore, our phone lines will remain closed for general enquires. Our emergency phone line will remain in operation, offering remote triage and appointments where appropriate. Please rest assured we are doing everything in our power to resume normal operation as soon as possible.
We will continue to maintain a closed-door policy for the foreseeable future. Please do not attend the practice without an appointment. Our clinical team will be unable to assist you at the door.
If you have an appointment scheduled within the next few months, that was booked prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is likely your appointment will need to be rearranged. One of our team will contact you in due course. All appointments must now be pre-screened.
If you are a DPAS plan patient and you have had a routine appointment cancelled, we will do our best to rearrange your appointment as soon as we can. Where this has not been possible, we will assess you on a case by case basis and discuss your options with you at a later date. We will ensure your plan remains a financial benefit to you.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.
Kind regards and best wishes
All the team at Dalkeith House
Notice to patients 1st June 2020
We would like to thank you for being patient with us during this very challenging time. The practice was instructed to close its doors and suspend all face to face contact with our patients back in March to prevent further spread of the virus, Covid-19. Some of you have had dental emergencies during this time that needed our care. Unfortunately, we were not able to see you face to face at the practice but we have continued to take your calls every day and give you advice, prescribe antibiotics and refer those patients in urgent need to an urgent dental care hub. You have patiently followed our advice and coped with your dental emergencies at home.
You may have heard in the media that dental practices will reopen on the 8th June. While this is the earliest date that we have been given by the government to return, there is much work to be done before we can do this safely. We are awaiting further guidance. Our patient’s safety and that of our staff is paramount. We take infection control very seriously at the practice and will follow all of the guidance set out by Public Health England and recommendations from the British Dental Association.
During this next phase we will maintain a closed-door policy. You will only be granted access to the building by appointment only. Please do not attend the practice without an appointment. You will be instructed to leave and to make contact via the phone. While we are keen to welcome you back to the practice, we will not be in a position to be able to resume normal operations straight away.
We aim to begin to see patients again face to face sometime late June (date to be confirmed) with a reduced capacity. We will prioritize those patients who have had a dental emergency from 25th March to date. All patients who have contacted the surgery for advice during this time will also be contacted and advised of their options. If you already have an appointment scheduled for the next couple of months that was booked prior to the covid-19 outbreak, it is likely these appointments will need to be rearranged. If you are a plan patient that has had a routine appointment cancelled, please rest assured these will be rearranged in due course. Where this has not been possible during your plan year, we will assess on a case by case basis and discuss your options with you at a later date. Patients with outstanding treatments will also be contacted in due course. Please avoid contacting the surgery for general enquiries at this time, we will keep you updated via this website.
It may be months before we can resume our full list of treatments. Please be patient while we navigate new regulations and protocols for general dentistry. If you have a dental emergency please continue to contact the practice in the usual way.
Thank you for being patient with us. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back.
Kind regards and best wishes
All the team at Dalkeith House