Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to reform Health Education England processes for completing the Performer List Validation by Experience to help reduce the time taken to consider applications.

The Health Education England (HEE) Performers List Validation by Experience (PLVE) process is in place to enable overseas dentists who have passed the Overseas Registration Examination to join the National Health Service Performers List in a supportive and safe environment. We keep this process under review.

Provided all the necessary application information is available, an eligible dentist will be accepted into HEE’s PLVE process within four to six weeks. Once confirmed by NHS England, the dentist will join the Performers List at that point, not at the end of the PLVE process. The time then spent practising NHS dentistry with the PLVE model will depend on the support needs of the individual applicant and does not affect their Performers List status.

Dentists entering the Performers List through the PLVE method take time to develop an understanding of the NHS system and to ensure they are safe to practice unsupervised.