Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increasing the target for units of dental activity to 45 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on waiting times for patients who require complex dental work.

A steady increase in dental activity has been made possible following updated Public Health England’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidance. Dental services however continue to operate at reduced capacity due to the need for social distancing, personal protective equipment and other IPC measures.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have set a 45% dental activity target. This target is based upon clinical advice and modelling from the office of the Chief Dental Officer and has taken into consideration robust adherence to IPC guidance and social distancing requirements. Furthermore, data on the percentages of activity dental practices have achieved to date supports the view that the target can be safely attainable.

National Health Service commissioners have the discretion to make exceptions, for instance in cases where a dental practice has been impacted by staff being required to self-isolate and the reinstatement of shielding during the national lockdown.

The unit of dental activity targets for January to March 2021 are expected to increase available NHS dental care for patients and reduce waiting times for all dental care, including complex care.