Supporting the dental profession throughout the second Covid-19 wave

The CDOs for the four nations – Tom Ferris (Scotland), Colette Bridgman (Wales), Michael Donaldson (Northern Ireland) and Sara Hurley (England) – have released a letter addressing the dental profession regarding their response to the pandemic. The letter reads:

Dear colleagues

Covid-19 has been a challenge for the entire UK population. For dental teams, we understand the impact of asking you to scale back care in March and we appreciate your sterling efforts to resume service provision to support patients. We know that you continue to work tirelessly to address the backlog of care, all driven by our profession’s enduring common motivation – to deliver the very best care for our patients through this pandemic.

Unfortunately, as we all know, Covid-19 cases are rising again and there is already sustained additional pressure on parts of the NHS. Pressure will inevitably be exacerbated by staff shortages due to sickness or caring responsibilities. Due to the actions of the whole population of all four nations the initial peak of pressure will be significantly lower than it would have been, but it may well be prolonged throughout the winter period, with wide local variation and fluctuation in cases, requiring a sustained and prolonged response from all the healthcare professions.