Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of women's oral health in bridging the gap between prison care and community health services; and what part that will play in their renewed women's health strategy.

Women’s oral health matters for pain, nutrition, mental wellbeing, confidence and for safe resettlement. Although no assessment has been made, evidence shows higher unmet dental need in prisons. Prisoners often enter prison with higher rates of dental decay and oral disease than their peers in the community but with lower levels of treatment. This was most recently reviewed in “A survey of prison dental services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 2017 to 2018” published by Public Health England in 2019.

Our approach to tackling inequalities brings together the national prison dental specification, the Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review and the Women’s Health Strategy. We will strengthen trauma informed, preventative care in women’s prisons, promote pre-release dental planning wherever possible and use RECONNECT to support GP and dental appointments on release. RECONNECT offers liaison, advocacy and support to engage with community-based health services to help ensure health needs of people leaving prison are met. This helps improve treatment continuity and reduces inequalities between custody and community care.