Dental Services: Homelessness
(asked on 20th July 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that homeless people are able to access dental treatment during the covid-19 outbreak.
The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working hard to ensure that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing inequalities is minimised.
During the pandemic peak face to face dentistry was limited to urgent care only provided from over 600 urgent dental centres. However, from 8 June all National Health Service dental services including practices, community dental services and bespoke services aimed at particular groups such as homeless people were permitted and encouraged to reopen for urgent and routine care at as fast a pace as is compatible with patient and staff safety.
In the letter announcing the restart, NHS England and NHS Improvement set out clear guidance that in the sequencing and scheduling of patients for treatment as services resume organisations should take into account the urgency of patient needs and the particular unmet needs of vulnerable groups.
A copy of the letter can be found at the following link:
The Chief Dental Officer issued a further letter and an updated standard operating (SOP) procedure to further assist NHS dental service recovery on 28 August. A copy of this letter and SOP can be found at the following link: