1. How is the Welsh Government supporting the dental profession in Wales during the coronavirus pandemic? OQ55332

Llywydd, I thank Caroline Jones for that question. We support the profession through implementation of a safe, phased, risk-based re-establishment of dental services. All the actions we take to reduce the risk of community transmission also help protect dental teams and patients from coronavirus in Wales.

Thank you, First Minister. The dental profession, like all sectors of the Welsh economy, is suffering deeply as a result of lockdown. While the move out of the red alert level will bring some small relief, it will not be enough to support many practices, and we cannot afford to lose a single dental practice in Wales. I've been contacted by many practices, often sole proprietors, who are worried that the loss of business will result in them going out of business and even losing their homes. First Minister, what financial support, beyond the payment of 90 per cent of annual contract value, are you offering dentists in Wales to ensure that we don't lose any practices? Diolch.

Llywydd, we support dental practices in Wales in a whole range of different ways. I think it's important to mention the word 'patience' when we're talking about dental practices, because it is the safety of patients and staff that has to remain at the top of our agenda. There are a number of dental practices that are inherently risky where coronavirus is concerned, because the use of aerosol techniques, which are inevitable and necessary in dentistry, create particular risks.

We are supporting NHS dentists by making sure that 80 per cent of NHS contracts were paid between April and June. We'll be paying 90 per cent of those contracts from July. We're supporting those contracts and those contractors with PPE. So, in a whole range of ways, we are supporting the profession. The main way we can support them is by making sure that we have a staged approach that resumes dental activity as fast as we can as safely as we can, and that is the path we will continue, alongside the profession, to pursue in Wales. 

Good morning, First Minister. You mentioned the aerosol-generating procedures. My understanding is that, going forward, Welsh Government are promoting a one-hour gap between those procedures to allow air exchange in surgeries, but the science behind this is negligible. Europe looked at 15 minutes between aerosol-generating procedures, but they've since dropped that because the science is so non-existent on that particular process. On a day like today, when it's very still, hot and muggy, how do you—? First of all, where is the science for that, First Minister? Where can I go and reference that? And secondly, how do you actually propose that dentists are able to implement that change of air, that air exchange, for an hour? Because just opening the windows on a day like today simply wouldn't do it.

Well, Llywydd, neither I nor the Member are experts in the science that lies behind safe dental practice. For that, we have to rely on the people who are the experts, and that's why we have a chief dental officer in Wales. I spoke yesterday with Dr Colette Bridgman about the advice she is providing to the profession and how that advice is derived from discussions with leading members of the profession. We have to rely on the people who are employed as the most senior people in their field to give us advice. They keep that advice under regular review. If they feel it is safe to extend the range of activity, they will bring it forward. Dr Bridgman acted on Friday of last week, alongside the other changes that we announced. She lifted the red alert categorisation of dentistry in Wales to allow more procedures to be undertaken more quickly. But we can't proceed other than by relying upon the advice that those people, who are much better placed than me, and, with respect, much better placed than the Member, to understand the science and to give that advice, and that is what we will continue to do.

First Minister, Wales's chief dental officer Dr Colette Bridgman has stated that there will be a phased and careful approach to the reopening of full routine dental services in Wales and stated that she is absolutely alive to the concerns of a prolonged period of inactivity of services for people's oral hygiene. Indeed, Wales's chief dental officer is on record as saying that the Welsh Government would keep timelines under constant review. So, First Minister, with Wales's success across the UK nations at keeping the reproduction number and growth rate of the spread of COVID-19 low, what measures can Welsh Government take to ensure that dental practices across Wales are equipped with the requisite hand sanitisers, masks, gloves, personal protective equipment and infection and prevention control resources so that they can continue to reopen when circumstances safely permit?

And will, also, the First Minister commit to my constituents in Islwyn that dentistry care will be seen as a priority area of focus for the Welsh Government as a vital part of the Welsh national health service, offering, as it was, to Wales's Labour Aneurin Bevan?

Llywydd, I thank Rhianon Passmore for that, and I thank her for drawing attention to the way that things have been done in Wales. Unlike England or Scotland, dental practices in Wales have been able to remain open throughout the pandemic for urgent face-to-face care, and that's in addition to the urgent dental centres we have had open. And, of course, we work very closely with those colleagues who are contractors in the national health service. Those dentists who choose to work within the national health service have all the benefits of that, and that includes provision of the sorts of resources that Rhianon Passmore identified in her question.

There are many dental practices that choose not to be part of the public service here in Wales and they cannot expect to be able to choose not to be part of the service and then to have all the benefits of being in the service. If you are a private practitioner in a private business, then you have responsibilities to secure your own supplies of many of the things you need in order to be able to meet the regulatory standards that you will still have to observe.

And I'm very happy to provide a commitment to the Member's constituents in Islwyn and across Wales that dentistry is a priority service for us. NHS dentistry is a priority for us. The health Minister issued a written statement yesterday explaining how we will reopen dentistry in a way that is safe for staff and safe for patients, and that is the path that we will sustain in Wales.