Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Covid-19 Guidance NHS General Dental Services from the Chief Dental Officer, published by the Scottish Government on 17 March 2020, what recent discussions he has had with the Chief Dental Officer for England on updated (a) guidance and (b) support for dentists during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is working to support and protect all our frontline National Health Service health and care staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, including dentists.

NHS England issued guidance on 20 March and further guidance is expected very shortly. Existing guidance has set out an expectation that routine care is radically reduced, further guidance will cover detailed arrangements for service delivery and include plans for redeployment of dental teams where possible to support frontline services dealing with the pandemic.

The latest COVID-19 guidance for dental practices which is regularly updated can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/primary-care/dental-practice