NHS COVID-19 Dental Workforce Redeployment

The Letter of Preparedness from Chief Dental Officer, England, Sara Hurley, and NHS England and NHS Improvement, Director of Primary Care and System Transformation, Matt Neligan, published on 25th of March outlined the postponement of elective dental care and further assurance of NHS dental contracts. Please see Issue 3 Preparedness for primary dental care.

Amongst significant changes to primary dental service provision it describes a highly skilled workforce with the capacity to help the wider health and social care system. The Office of Chief Dental Officer, England, has, to date received an overwhelming number of requests and queries from members of the dental team wishing to support the NHS and our medical colleagues in response to COVID-19.

To support both NHS colleagues and enable dental teams to volunteer, the Chief Dental Officer, England, and NHS England and NHS Improvement is producing a framework for the voluntary redeployment of the dental workforce to areas of need within the wider NHS, based on the competencies of each dental team member.

Any dental team member wishing to support the NHS can register their interest via survey link on the NHS England & NHS Improvement website https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/returning-clinicians/dental-professionals/.

Thank you for your ongoing support to the NHS.

The Office of the Chief Dental Officer, England, NHS England & NHS Improvement team