The East Sussex Emergency NHS Dental Service can only treat patients who have an urgent care need that meets the strict triage criteria around clinical symptoms.
In most occasions accessing urgent care with your usual dentist is the best way to support with any ongoing care needs. All local NHS Dental Practices are expected to help patients seeking urgent dental care regardless if they are on the practice business list or not.
There may be limited treatment options when accessing care in an out of hour’s setting. Some treatment may be of a temporary nature to manage an acute problem and further dental care may be required from a daytime dentist. Telephone call operators assess all patients and once satisfied that the patients care need is a priority, an appointment may be offered.
Access to the clinic is controlled and patients will not be allowed into the site unless they have an appointment. Service users are asked to respect staff as they try to help. Any calls of an abusive nature will not be tolerated and will be terminated.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic there is additional pre-appointment screening in place before patients can enter clinics. Appointments are limited and there may be some treatments that cannot be provided at the time of presentation due to the additional safety measures required during the pandemic.
When NHS patient charges apply, payment may be taken remotely at the appointment booking stage. Most credit or debit cards are accepted. Patients who are exempt from dental charges will need to bring proof of exemption with them.
The service is experiencing operational pressures due to the pandemic which may impact on service provision. Please be aware that you may be offered care at an alternative site if there is availability or remote management if appropriate.