Are you carrying on with regular or scheduled non urgent medical stuff?

[DoubleAction]

Things like Dentist, Physio, Opticians, Chiropodist.

I have a few appointments this week and next. Obviously close contact to be avoided but they're still open (for now) and we don't know when the next opportunity will be.

DD had her braces fitted a few weeks ago and they need regular checking and altering as her teeth shift. Her orthodontist has cancelled her appointment, which was supposed to be next week. Still not clear if appointments are off for the foreseeable future or not - not sure what it would do to her teeth if so?!

No definitely not. I work in the NHS as a medical professional and I've cancelled my spinal cortisone injections and planned operation for the duration because the hospital is too stretched.
I just have to hope my back doesn't give out before the end so I can still work and I'm taking a lot of painkillers.
Any abcess leading to sepsis should always be treated - a dental abcess should be treated, untreated they can be dangersous.
Routine dental can wait.
I have seen ingrowing toenails that get bad enough get osteomyelitis (bone infections) that could require a partial amputation so that needs to be watched but I have to tell you the NHS in my area has cancelled nail ops for now.
I think the best thing to do is call your dentist, optician, medical provider and ask for advice.
They should have procedures in place.

"She is claiming full essential NHS staff status. On that basis, I'm expecting dental surgeries to be working as normal"

They'll be working, but not necessarily as normal.

They will be doing dental emergencies, but not routine work, unless there is exceptional reason (eg patients about to embark on chemo often need a dental check first, because even minor matters can be a big deal during treatment and much can be avoided)

I expect orthodontists will continue to see existing patients, but may not take on new ones for the duration

My outpatients appts are (arguably) routine, but they are required because there are immensely strict guidelines for the prescription of (eye-wateringly expensive) advanced cancer drugs. So my haematology outpatients is going ahead, as are the required ‘routine’ tests just before it. Arguably routine, but something without which I would die (that was a scary sentence to type)

If you have a symptom which could mean cancer and might lead to a referral under the 2 week rule, you should definitely be seen.

A lot of stuff is being suspended, but if you suspect that it’s something which could kill you or lead to life-changing impairment, you should still seek urgent appointments exactly as you would have gone before

My daughter’s outpatient appointment was cancelled with about 45 mins to go last Thursday. It was for paediatric haematology/oncology but she’s not currently on active treatment. I understand the rationale that caused the cancellation and was able to speak to a consultant on the team same day.
I had a telephone screening appointment for myself on Friday but I don’t expect that to materialise into a face to face appointment for some months now.

Hopefully appointments are being adequately triaged so that necessary ones are taking place and others are being put on the back burner. The NHS saved my daughter’s life and I am
wiling to trust our local staff to make the correct call.

NHS dentists have advice online not to do routine checkups, or drilling, or the tooth suction thing, or air or water tool. So no proper fillings. All they can do is blob a temporary dressing and temporary filling on top of the tooth and shape it a bit with the hand tool to protect the tooth with a view to filling in a few months.

Or extract the tooth.

If you are in pain the nhs will refer you to a hospital though for a real filling delivered by a hazmat suited person in a hospital.

They don’t have enough protective wear in the nhs yet. Emergency staff are getting first priority. Not local nhs places like go surgeries.

I don’t imagine any routine scheduled physio or docs appointments will be happening either. My hospital appt was cancelled.

To do any close to a patient work they would need hazmat suits as they would be closer than 2m.

However if a private dentist or doctor or whatever wanted to proceed you’d have to consider whether you thought you could catch anything from their last patient, for although the doc/dentist/physio is protected, his patient would have touched the chair or bed, door handle etc, so is it a risk worth taking? People are stupid and selfish. They may be feeling rough and go anyway, not realising they could have caught the virus instead of a cold.

Stay safe. Don’t risk it if you don’t have to.

My dentist (private) has cancelled all appointments, however he and his wife, also a dentist, will be there everyday in case of emergencies.

I have had a dental abcess in the pas caused by a broken filing. In all honestly I would have killed myelf had it not been treated, the pain was unreal and I was screaming and sweating at one point. I had a fever from the infection. If that happens to me agaiin and my dentist won't help, I would probably have to try A&E if I was refused other options before the pills and vodka.

As far as I know your dentist will refer you to the nearest dental hospital if you are in pain and he is unable to help with his current limitations. Not A&E. So don’t worry, you will get treated. Just not by your usual guy in your usual surgery.

@iismum, I hadn't thought of that - I hope they're taking adjustments into account and just doing them fewer and further between rather than postponing indefinitely.

It's awful, because many of these things rely on parents to count the weeks and push for an urgent appointment when necessary, which is fine if they have the language skills and understand the process, but if they don't, I think there are going to be quite a few children missing out on vital treatment because of this 'cancel everything excerpt emergencies' rule.

That said, all of our NHS doctors so far have been fab so I can't complain personally. It's just frustrating.

I have an urgent 2 week wait appointment referral on monday and am debating cancelling. I wouldnt even consider going for anything trivial at the moment.

A 2WW is not trivial
You should go

My ds had an appointment with the surgical appliances department at the hospital, just for insoles as he has flat feet. I rang on Thursday to cancel it and was told they are telling people to still come in if they don't have any symptoms 🤷 I cancelled it anyway!!