Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
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 assess the number of dentists scheduled to have taken the part 2 exam since the start of the covid-19 outbreak; what constraints there are to taking the ORE assessment for British citizens and others; what steps he will take to suspend or overcome the impact of the five year limit; and what the outcome has been relevant discussions with the General Dental Council on this matter; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Dentists Act 1984 requires overseas applicants to the General Dental Council’s register to undertake its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) to confirm they have the requisite skills and knowledge to practise dentistry in the United Kingdom. This legislation restricts system capacity, including the availability of places on the ORE exam. The Department is currently working with the General Dental Council on legislative proposals to allow it greater flexibility to expand the registration routes open to international applicants.
Safety restrictions brought in as part of the COVID-19 response made it necessary for the General Dental Council to suspend Parts 1 and 2 of the ORE in April 2020. On 2 December 2021, it announced a planned sitting of the Part 2 exam in January 2022. The legislation also restricts Part 2 ORE places being offered to candidates where five or more years have passed since they first attempted Part 1 of the exam. Therefore, the General Dental Council has not been able to offer places for the January 2022 sitting to any candidates whose five-year period expired during the time that the ORE has been suspended. Before the pandemic, three sittings a year were offered for the Part 2 exam, each with a capacity of 144 candidates.
Officials are working with the General Dental Council to develop proposals which will provide candidates with additional time to take the Part 2 assessment in the future. We plan to consult on this proposed legislative change, alongside proposals to change the Council’s international registration processes, in early 2022.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason boxes of three months supply of covid-19 tests are no longer available to people working for and volunteering in the NHS.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Previously, NHS Test and Trace supplied tests directly to National Health Service distribution centres. However, from July 2021, we moved to the universal testing offer to enable staff to order directly from GOV.UK, and maintain a regular supply delivered to their home. This testing offer can be used by both NHS staff and volunteers.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
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 restore full NHS dentistry services in (a) England and (b) West Sussex; and what the planned timescale is for ensuring that new patients can be registered across West Sussex.
Answered by Jo Churchill
NHS England has set a threshold of 60% of normal activity volumes for the first six months of 2021/22. Dental practices have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. There are also 718 urgent dental centres continuing to support the provision of services across England. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided a flexible commissioning toolkit to local commissioners to help focus the available capacity on those that need it most and to reduce oral health inequalities.
In Sussex, NHS England has offered practices additional funding for delivering appointments during evenings or weekends to patients who do not have a regular dentist. Two practices will be offering these sessions and NHS England are in the process of arranging additional services. There is no longer a requirement for registration in order to receive care.