Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) what covid-19 guidance remains in place for dentists, (b) for what reason it continues to apply following the pandemic, and (c) what plans she has to (i) update or (ii) rescind said guidance.

On 28 June 2022, NHS England wrote to dental practices to advise that the UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on infection prevention and control (IPC) for seasonal respiratory infections for winter 2021/22 and the accompanying dental appendix would be withdrawn. NHS England confirmed the return to usual contracting arrangements from Quarter 2 2022/23, when all National Health Service dentists were asked to deliver 100% of contracted activity.