Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of dentistry provision in the youth secure estate.

NHS England has statutory responsibility for the direct commissioning of health services in the children and young people secure estate. Intercollegiate Healthcare Standards for children and young people in secure settings were first published in 2013 to support high quality healthcare provision for children in secure settings, and were refreshed in 2023. These standards are available at the following link:

https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/healthcare-standards-children-young-people-secure-settings

They formed the basis of an outcome-based dental service specification, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/health-and-justice-and-armed-forces-service-specifications-for-children-and-young-people-in-secure-settings/#:~:text=Health%20and%20justice%20service%20specifications%20for%20children%20and%20young%20people%20in%20secure%20settings,-Document%20first%20published&text=This%20suite%20of%20specifications%20includes,dental%20and%20oral%20health%20specifications.

All children in the secure estate receive individualised care according to need and following an assessment via the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool. This is an evidence based, validated health assessment tool for under 18-year-olds, which screens for physical health, substance misuse, mental health and neurodisability. This would include any dental care needs.