Dear Levy Payers

Dear Levy payer,

Following our previous e-mail we would like to update you on some of our work on your behalf over the last few weeks. We have had meetings with Professor Angus Walls (Director of Dentistry Lothian) , Emma O’Keefe (Consultant in Dental Public Health), David Small and Alison McNeillage ( from NHS Lothian) who are all under considerable pressure at this time.

We were under the impression that Lothian were not carrying out the same range of treatments for emergency patients in the UDCC’s as were being seen in some areas of the country and we raised this with Angus. He confirmed that despite a slow start they were seeing patients as per the SDCEP guidelines. He has since sent emails to practice generic NHS web addresses confirming which emergencies will be seen by the service . We have a meeting later today to discuss issues and how a possible return to work might be supported and will endeavour to keep you all updated as and when we can.

Our website is updated daily with the latest information that we receive in our NHS.net account. It’s all in the news section of the website. This includes the DoD updates with the SDCEP and Triage guidelines and pharmacy lists and opening times. We have kept this to Lothian or Scotland specific guidance to try and make it more concise. The link is; https://lothian-ldc.org/news/ . We are also looking to increase our social media presence and have just launched a facebook page- search for Lothian LDC or follow the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/586657352202841/about/

It is important that Principals, or whoever accesses the practice generic email, circulates the messages to Associates so that everyone is kept informed.

We are aware of the professions’ concerns regarding the limited availability of UDCCs and have pushed NHS Lothian to try and increase both the number of centres and the scope of provision available at these sites.

We would very much welcome feedback on any specific issues with either access or patient care that you have. This can be done through the website, or by replying to this e-mail. It is always easier to put pressure on when there is a specific basis to the feedback rather than it being anecdotal. We hope that you are keeping safe at this difficult time.

Kind regards,

John, Mark and the Lothian LDC.