To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department made an assessment of dental capacity prior to the introduction of the 95 percent Unit of Dental Activity target from 4 April 2022.
Answered on
28 April 2022
NHS England and NHS Improvement have set activity thresholds for dentists which have gradually increased throughout the pandemic. This is in accordance with infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance and based on data which indicated the level of activity National Health Service dental practices have safely achieved to date.
This data on dental capacity informed the new unit of dental activity threshold for the first quarter of 2022/23. NHS England and NHS Improvement considered the impact of the reduction in dental capacity due to the Omicron variant and adherence to IPC guidance on access to dental services. Contractors continue to be supported to enable a return to pre-pandemic levels of activity as soon as is safely possible.