Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all dental practices can access the (a) personal protective and (b) other equipment they require to safely resume routine dental services when covid-19 lockdown measures are eased.

NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28 May that National Health Service dentistry outside urgent care centres will begin to restart from 8 June with the aim of increasing levels of service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety. The letter outlines that practices need to consider the Public Health England guidance on infection control protocols and personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to deliver care in a way that is safe, operationally deliverable and allows dental practices flexibility to do what is best for patients and their teams.