Coronavirus: Protective equipment issues risk to Welsh dentists

A dentist in Wales says he is unable to purchase some specialist personal protective equipment from his usual suppliers, as it has been allocated for dentists in England.

Stephen Clark said his team were desperate to reopen their surgery, but needs the PPE equipment first.

Practices in Wales will be able to open for urgent dental cases from July.

Welsh Government said "a couple" of surgeries had reported issues with PPE access and it was being investigated.

The Penylan Dental Practice in Cardiff, where Mr Clark carries out his dentistry, would normally see about 60 people a day, but has been virtually empty during the coronavirus lockdown.

He said any procedures they carry out that could create a potential infectious aerosol spray, such as drilling, require more advanced PPE.

"Unfortunately, these sorts of items are very, very difficult to come by," he said.

"Countrywide, it's pretty much everyone in Wales to a degree is struggling to find, maybe, masks or aprons or gowns. So even though the 1 July we'll be able to open to see patients, I fear that a lot of practices won't be able to open and patients will suffer as a result."

Normally dentists purchase PPE on the open market, but during the pandemic, supplies from manufacturers in England have been centralised, and wholesalers purchasing the equipment from the English Department of Health can only sell them on to dentists working in England.

A similar situation for PPE used by care homes emerged early on in the pandemic, with Welsh care homes managers being told supplies sold in England were being restricted to English facilities only.

Edmund Proffitt, chief executive of the body British Dental Industry Association, said his understanding was four dental wholesalers in the UK were making PPE available through the Department of Health and Public Health England.

"We understand that this PPE is part of Public Health England strategic stock, and, as such, it can only be supplied by these wholesalers to dental surgeries in England," said Mr Proffitt.

"Any similar activity in Wales would be the responsibility of the relevant Welsh health authorities."

The Department of Health confirmed PPE was a matter for the Welsh Government.

An official for the Welsh Government responded: "During the coronavirus outbreak health boards have been supporting dentists by supplying PPE where needed.

"Any shortages, which are not able to be addressed locally, have been managed via NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership and PPE has been supplied directly to dentists.

"We are aware a couple of dental practices have said they've experienced issues when ordering PPE and this is being investigated."

While practices in Wales will be able to open for urgent treatment from next month, the Welsh Government has indicated it does not anticipate routine dental appointments to restart until the new year.