9th April Covid-19 Update

Please find below a summary of today’s Covid-19 news relevant to GDPs in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. If you are not receiving these by email then you can subscribe here.

1. CDO LETTER
   • You will likely have received a copy of a PCA from the Scottish Chief Dental Officer this morning.
   • The key point in the letter is: ‘NHS funding support would not be  a bar for practices with mixed provision to claim financial support for private dentistry, providing the claim is proportionate to the amount of private dentistry being provided.’
   • The letter references the Employee Retention Scheme (Furlough) and the Business Interruption Loan Scheme and appears to suggest mixed practices might be able to proportionately make use of these schemes. The CDO again defers to practices’ own circumstances and therefore advice from their own accountants would be required on how best to make use of the funding available.
2. PHARMACY COVER AT EASTER
   • The Chief of Dentistry update reiterates that NHS 24 are no longer covering Good Friday or Easter Monday for dental practices which means that dentists must ensure they cover telephone triage for their practices on these days.
   • When prescriptions are necessary, it has been confirmed that all pharmacies should be open on Good Friday. Pharmacies that will be open on Easter Monday are detailed here.
   • Direct dial mobile phones for pharmacies are being looked at so that health care professionals who are remote prescribing can make contact more easily during the covid-19 pandemic.
3. REDEPLOYMENT
   • The Chief of Dentistry reports that they are now looking at redeployment of volunteers into the wider NHS now in addition to the PDS Hubs and NHS 24. He mentioned yesterday that they were looking at sending GDPs to Community Assessment Centres and today he mentions the new SEC Louisa Jordan Hospital site as a potential redeployment site.
4. GDC UPDATE
   • The GDC sent out an update last night giving advice to the profession on their role in the current Covid-19 pandemic and some reassurances as to how they will exercise their role in these extreme circumstances.

CDO Letter mixed NHS/Private access to financial support
Chief of Dentistry Update 9th April 2020
Easter Monday Pharmacy List 
GDC Update 8th April 2020