November 2024
Well done to Molly for being nominated for Apprentice Dental Nurse of the Year 2024!
November 2024
Wedgwood House Dental Practice has a new (this) website - we hope our viewers like it. Well done to our Media Manager, Clare Geaney.
November 2024
Those of you who have recently visited the practice will have noticed the wall paintings have moved. Hope to show off new work from our local artist Christine Ellingham very soon!
November 2024
We are in the process of updating our BT telephones. Work has begun with our office line. If anyone identifies a problem do let us known using the contact form. Fingers crossed all goes well.
October - November 2024
Our NHS and private dentist patient registrations have had to close due to a lack of appointment availability. For those persons wishing to join the private dentist waiting list please provide us your details. Sorry, we do not have an open NHS dentist waiting list - it would be endless. Before ringing the reception, please the page New Patients for details.
Staff 2024 - January to October
Sadly Mary left us at the end of October to ease her daily commute. All the staff liked her and we wish her well. We are now looking for a clinical professional to replace her. Please see Jobs.
September 2024 saw our two new Foundation Dentists, Salma and Waqas, join the practice. Best wishes to our previous Foundation Dentists Asmah and Yas who continue with their dental careers.
Dr Mary Santhanam joined as an Associate Dentist in June 2024, and Dr Patrick Donohoe joined as an Associate Dentist in September 2024. We hope our patients gave them a warm welcome.
Dr Arlene Walsh left us on the 29/5/2024. Well done to Arlene for completing her performers list validation by experience (PLVE) accreditation.
On the week commencing 15/4/2024, we welcomed our new apprentice dental nurse Sophie Crooks.
We were sorry to say goodbye to nurse Rebecca 'Becky' Mooney who moved to another practice closer to home.
Unaccompanied Children
Wedgwood House kindly reminds the parents and legal guardians of children under 16 years old to accompany their child(ren) when they attend a dentist or hygienist appointment. Should another person bring their child, please ensure the dental reception team have your consent to the booked treatment.
Patient information leaflet
Minor updates to the patient information leaflet (staff changes, enhancements to email recall info about appointment length, ICB contact details) in the Pre-Appointment section.
Privacy Notice
See latest Privacy Notice here, WHDP privacy notice.
Complaints Procedure
Updated the complaints procedure. Main change: the induction of the term Integrated Care Board (ICB).
NHS & Private Fees updated
NHS and private fees changed on the 1st April 2024. See fees and below for additional detail.
Note that private hygiene prices had been frozen for the previous two years - we thank Gil Le Grys for this and hope you continue to support her with your future custom.
Post 1st April 2024, the dental practice costs continued to rise. One supplier announced a "44% cost of living" increase!
25 years of being your Stowmarket dentist
Dr Jill Geaney opened her first Suffolk dental practice in Old Fox Yard, Stowmarket on the 9th April 1999, moving patients to the 100 Bury Street premises in 2005.
Problems with answer machine
We apologise to the small number of patients who experienced a delay getting a return call over the Christmas 2023-24 break.
BT announced a national service problem with its 'BT Cloud Work' service which meant that 1000s of businesses including WHDP were unable to access answer machine messages. Technical services are now back to normal.
Staff 2023
Thank you for the amazing feedback on our new dentists who joined in September 2023!
November 2023 saw dental nurse Sophie C. leave us after 6 years, we will miss her very much. In mid-October, Caitlin joined the dental nurse team, and Shania joined as a trainee dental nurse on 4/12/23.
Well done to Gemma and Becky who completed their dental nursing qualifications!
September 2023 saw a change of receptionists, Maz joined us to replace Camilla. We welcomed our new associate dentist, Arlene who served both NHS and private patients.
At the end of August 2023 we said goodbye to Daisy and Raj. September 2023 welcomed Asmah and Yas, two excellent graduates from Queen Mary London university, both who already made good impressions with their patients early on in their time here.
March 2023 we said goodbye to dental therapist, Amy Greatwood. Previous Patient Feedback demonstrated our patients' fondness for Amy and her treatments; we wish her and our apprentice nurse Lolli all the best for their futures.
Dr Rahul Faujdar provided some locum dentist sessions to ease the turnover period.
2023 began on the 3rd January with several staff recovering from contracting Covid-19 over the festive holidays.
Face Masks Optional
From the 1st June 2023, the reception team no longer asked patients to wear a face covering. Instead patients and visitors may wear one if it makes them feel more comfortable. Masks are provided free-of-charge on entrance to the ground floor reception room.
Please note that our Covid-19 precautions still require all persons that enter the dental practice to wash their hands. Refusal to do so when asked can result in your registration being reviewed and even suspended.
We still ask persons suspected or known to have Covid-19 not to enter the building and to ring the reception team on 01449 771 700 for instructions.
In winter 2023, we were aware of the increasing numbers of people contracting the flu and COVID, and recommended all those able to get vaccinations to do so.
Our staff have taken Covid-19 vaccinates and boosters.
We encourage everyone to follow government advise and accept the vaccine when offered it.
Building Renovations
In 2023, we replaced the garage's asbestos roof with something more environmentally friendly - well done Kris Loomes! We hope everyone liked the fresh paint job on the outside of the building - well done Reynolds & Ruston Ltd.!
Failure to Attend, and Was Not Brought
Since the introduction of our new computer system with its appointment reminder facility, we see less patients failing to turn up for their dentist and hygienist appointments. Thank you.
We remind all patients, especially those making family appointments, to provide (or reconfirm) mobile and email contact details with the reception team.
Should you be unwell or be able to attend your appointment, please contact the reception team ASAP. Doing so may allow your appointment slot to be given to another patient.
Failure to attend (*) may result in you being de-registered from our dental practice and you being charged for the missed private appointment.
*Children who are not brought to their dental appointment by their parent or guardian. Note the NICE guidance in section 1.3 of Public Health England Safeguarding in general practice - A toolkit for dental teams.
Since September 2023, our computer system have allowed us to monitor the children who were not brought to their dental appointment. The reception staff follow up on non-attendance and, when necessary, report to local safeguarding leads.
Private Fees
Since October 2023, we have been analysing the impact of recent gas and stock price rises and renovation expenses. Many of our support staff received pay rises in April 2024 which were higher than inflation due to the government's mandatory 'minimum wage' policy. The majority of our dental laboratories increased their prices in early 2023, having been impacted by the rise in energy costs and staff wages, and the price of precious metals. Additionally, the cost of dental materials, equipment maintenance, and disposal service costs have also increased. For example, gloves are now three-times what they were pre-Covid-19.
Our electricity and gas prices significantly increased in January 2023 (and also later in 2023); we try our best to reduce our consumption or to explore alternative energy sources available to Listed Buildings.
The government increased the NHS band fees charged to patients by 8.5% from Monday 24th April 2023. On 1st April 2024, we introduced new private price guide for dental examinations and treatments. (though the government has yet to uplift the payments to dental practices - information correct as of 5/7/2024).
We have tried to keep somethings unchanged (e.g. online booking, Airflow consumables, composit veeners). Notice we kept the 30 minute routine and 40 minute direct- access (new) private hygiene services unchanged. Our fees are continuously reviewed.
Should customers wish to consider spreading the price of their treatments - please let the reception team know when you visit the reception desk or use the private payment plan survey. With sufficient interest, we may introduce a payment plan at a later date.
17/05/2023 : Clarified the child private hygienist appointment fee.
Older news regarding fees:
On the 1/9/22 we had to make a small increase to some private denture fees to account for unexpected laboratory charges and the higher cost of gold. We clarified the appointment deposit, online booking fee, and penalty charges on our printed fee list.
On the 1/4/2022, the private dental prices changed. All private hygiene treatments now include Airflow. Proving successful with patients, the cost of up to two intraoral X-rays is included in the routine dental examination fee. We have added some new treatments. We continue to offer discounts for children under 18 years when accompanied by a fee paying adult. Then in July 2022 we included provision for online booking (£1.50 non-refundable booking fee) and we extended the new dentist exam to 30mins and, like routine examinations, this includes in the cost up to two intraoral (small) X-rays.
The private fees were updated on the 1st January 2020, to reflect both the world increase in precious metal (e.g. gold) costs and associated laboratory price rises and staff wages since October 2018. Recent change includes the impact of the UK Government's decision to increase the National minimum and living wage by over 6% in April 2020, and of course the Covid-19 situation.
Our private prices are very competitive. To improve affordability to families we discount child examination prices by 50% to those under 18 years old (and children under 5 years free) when they accompany a private fee paying adult.
Notes:
Independent dental hygiene appointments normally require a financial deposit. Should you fail to attend, or cancel within 24 working hours of the appointment, the full cost of the treatment will be charged.
Staff 2022
November 2022 we welcomed our apprentice nurse Louise (Lolli) and receptionist Camilla. December 2022, our new cleaner, Sophie M. started at the practice.
Other joiners included: Kayhan (9/9/22 only), Lisa, Milena, Kerrie, Ryan and Zoe. The latter three have since moved on.
August/September 2022 we welcomed our 2022/23 Foundation dentists Daisy and Rajdeep, and our apprentice dental nurse Molly.
Good luck to Fauzia and Shaun in their next dental jobs. They left Wedgwood House at the end of Aug 2022.
Well done to Gemma, our lovely receptionist, for becoming a trainee dental nurse.
Online Booking & Reception Phones
July 2022, we added online booking of appointments. This should help some of those persons who find using the telephone difficult. On 11/7/2022, we started with private hygienist services for both new and existing patients. And in 2023, we have added private dentist services: implant consultation and emergency appointments. Sorry, if you don't find an available appointment online - we're just so busy.
Appointments can still be made by calling the reception team on 01449 771700, but in addition, the online appointment booking service will operate during and out of our opening hours.
We still ask that any cancellations or changes to appointments be made by calling reception. Some appointments incur a fee when cancelled less than 24 hours' in advance. Please refer to our services, fees and our Practice leaflet on the Pre-appointment information page.
On the 28/10/2022, the PSTN telephone 01449 771 700 line was migrated to a digital system able to cope with multiple calls simultaneously. The telephone service provider remains as BT. So far the new telephone system is working well.
Patient Feedback & Waiting Lists
We always try to listen to our customers. If you would like to provide additional written feedback please consider filling in our online patient questionnaire, or ask a staff member during your visit for a paper Patient Questionnaire form, or review us on Google.
For those of you wishing to become our patients, we briefly opened our NHS and private waiting lists in the Summer of 2021, and the private list again Summer 2023, but soon after so much interest, they had to be closed. At this time, we were accepting new patients to see our private hygienist. Anyone wishing to join please check our new patient list pages before you call the reception team, or try the NHS Dental Search tool.
Building renovations
During 2022, we painted treatment rooms and the patient loo.
Staff 2021
Fauzia and Shaun became our latest Foundation Dentists in September 2021. August saw the arrival of Amy our Dental Therapist and Becky our apprentice dental nurse.
We said goodbye to our associate dentist Dr Anitha Baskaran on the 21st May 2021 and wished her and family good luck to their future.
Jessica joined the dental practice as our new Apprentice nurse in December 2020, but sadly had to leave a year later due to person reasons.
Anna Geaney joined in December 2020 as a part-time receptionist. From February 2021, she took on additional hours to provide digital marketing consultancy and perform the Data Protection Officer (DPO) role.
Building renovations
Our building got a 'new' Welsh slate roof in 2021. Let's hope the roof lasts another 200 years. Well done to Loomes Roofing Contractors Ltd.
Staff 2020
Anitha became an associate dentist in September 2020, and Joe joined us August 2020 to be our new foundation dentist.
Earlier in 2020, the Covid-19 disruptions saw two of our dental associates leave us. We wish Elizabeth (Lizzy) and Richard best of luck with their futures.
Car Park CCTV
We at Wedgwood House Dental Practice enjoy working in our Grade II listed building and hope you, our customers, enjoy visiting too.
In order to keep everyone safe, we have installed CCTV in the rear car park area as described in our GDPR privacy notice.
Sorry we have no responsibility for our neighbours. We apologise for any inconvenience the deposited food waste and litter may have caused you during 2020-2021.
After the initial Covid lock down
October 2020
It's a quarter of a year since we re-opened our doors to see patients. The World still suffers from Covid19. The UK has begun just begund a "second wave" of infections.
Hopefully our patients have received the dental care they need. I offer a big thank you to all staff at Wedgwood House for their hard work. The reception team who spend hours each day repeating "the Covid19 questions" that keep everyone safe. The medical staff who wear hot, difficult to breath-through protective equipment. And the support staff keeping our business going.
June 2020
The statement given out by the government that dentists in England will re-open on the 8th June 2020 misled the public: we could only re-open with adequate safety measures and PPE in place. Today there is still a national shortage of PPE meaning that some staff will be prevented from performing certain treatments. Please be patient with our reception staff who have lots of Covid-19 related questions to ask.
We re-opened the dental practice on the 17th June 2020.
Please can everyone keep safe by following the new operating procedures.
April 2020
Since the 1st of April 2020, Dr J.M. Geaney and her colleagues attended the practice each day to provide advice, analgesia or antimicrobials where appropriate in line with NHS prescribing guidelines (AAA), but remained closed due to Covid-19.
We hope that you remained safe and well.
AIRFLOW®
We offer EMS AIRFLOW® hygiene treatments for the maintenance of your smile. Recommended for patients with dental implants, braces and veneers, or who just want the gentle effects of water and EMS powders to scale and polish their teeth.
Environmental Protection & Sustainability
To help save the planet, we use digital documentation and digital X-rays instead of paper and harmful chemicals, respectively. Since 2018 we use electronic SMS texts and emails to advise you of your dental appointment, and we hope to add additional digital services where feasible. Please provide your mobile telephone number and email contact details to the reception team on arrival at the practice.
We will do our best to support those patients that do not have or wish not to use mobile or email communications.
Autumn 2023, we changed our dental water purification system from an electric distillation process to an electric-free reverse osmosis process. (We now are monitoring the usage of filters).
Hearing loop system in Reception
A hearing loop system installed to assist our customers with hearing difficulties, 6/10/17. Thank you to nurse Nadia for helping select, train and install the device.
CQC Inspection 2017
On the 2/5/2017 we were inspected by the CQC. All 5 areas of competence were met (safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led). We're so proud of our staff and their dedication to delivering quality dental services. We're so grateful to all our customers' feedback that demonstrated 'a very positive view of the practice and the staff who worked [here]'.
We continue to follow the guidance and rules of the CQC, NHS, GDC and applicable dental advisory organisations. We hope to always listen to our staff and customers about your appreciation, act on your concerns or suggestions to improve where necessary.
Copyright © 2024 Wedgwood House Dental Practice (WHDP) | Site last updated: 27 November 2024
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
This is in addition to WHDP's Privacy Notice. Login
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.