Dental Services: Plymouth
(asked on 30th October 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the availability of dental care in Plymouth; and what additional financial and practical support he will give to dental practices in Plymouth to enable them to restore provision.
We acknowledge the impact that COVID-19 has had on the provision of National Health Service dentistry across the country and we are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to increase the level of service as fast as possible, acknowledging the ongoing social distancing and infection, prevention and control requirements. NHS England and NHS Improvement South West have also established 12 urgent dental centres to support the provision of urgent face to face care, for patients to access across the region.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have committed to fully funding dentists usual NHS earnings through 2020/21 minus an agreed deduction of 16.75% for the reduction in variable costs whilst practices were closed during the first period of national coronavirus restrictions. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also produced guidance to support practice. The latest guidance is available at the following link:
NHS England and NHS Improvement South West report that as of September 2020 there are 15,802 people in Plymouth waiting to access an NHS dentist on the list that NHS England and NHS Improvement holds.