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 help ensure that patients will have timely access to dental appointments following the backlog caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England to increase access to dental care, taking into account infection prevention and control and social distancing requirements. National Health Service dentists have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. The NHS has also issued guidance on flexible commissioning to share best practice on targeting the available capacity at those most in need.