Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of NHS dental services in North East Bedfordshire constituency; what steps his Department is taking to help increase the provision of NHS dental services; and what discussions he has had with Health Education England on the provision of (a) NHS dentists and (b) dental training places.

No recent formal assessment has been made. The provision of National Health Service dental services has been limited since 8 June 2020. Dental practices are currently focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups, including children, followed by overdue appointments. We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to increase activity levels as quickly as possible based on evidence on the levels of care that can be provided safely whilst protecting staff and patients from the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Health Education England has recently published their recommendations for improving training, education and recruitment of dental professionals in their Advancing Dental Care Review and are working with system partners to deliver those recommendations. The Department adjusted the number of dental school places for the 2021 academic year and we will ensure that numbers of dental school places are in line with England’s workforce requirements.