Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentists.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We are working with the National Health Service, Health Education England and the British Dental Association to tackle the challenges in access, both as a result of the pandemic and longer term. Whilst the impacts of the pandemic continue, practices are prioritising patients based on clinical need and a new activity threshold has been set at 85% to safely increase access. Current work on system reform and improving training for dentistry professionals also seeks to improve access for patients.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of dental workforce throughout the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill
NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need. While available data suggests that the number of dentists providing NHS services in England is sufficient, the interim NHS People Plan commits to addressing geographic shortages.
We are working both on improving career pathways and the current dental contract. In the summer, Health Education England will publish the report of their ‘Advancing Dental Care’ programme which has explored opportunities for flexible dental training pathways and the Department will publish a report on the learning from dental contract reform programme.
The Department has asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to work with the British Dental Association to bring forward implementable proposals.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the future of the dental workforce.
Answered by Jo Churchill
NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need. While available data suggests that the number of dentists providing NHS services in England is sufficient, the interim NHS People Plan commits to addressing geographic shortages.
We are working both on improving career pathways and the current dental contract. In the summer, Health Education England will publish the report of their ‘Advancing Dental Care’ programme which has explored opportunities for flexible dental training pathways and the Department will publish a report on the learning from dental contract reform programme.
The Department has asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to work with the British Dental Association to bring forward implementable proposals.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental practices are registering new (a) adult and (b) child NHS patients.
Answered by Jo Churchill
This data is unavailable. Continuous registration with dental practices is no longer required and patients are only registered with a dental practice during the course of their treatment.
In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through a National Health Service dental practice, they should contact NHS 111.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on increasing access to NHS dentistry.
Answered by Jo Churchill
National Health Service dentists throughout the country have been asked to maximise safe throughput to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement has provided a flexible commissioning toolkit to local commissioners to help focus the available capacity on those that need it most and to reduce oral health inequalities.
For the longer term, the Department has asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to work with the British Dental Association to build on the learning from the dental contract reform programme. Through this work, the Department is seeking to bring forward implementable proposals that address the key challenges facing the delivery of NHS dentistry and improve patient access.
Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what changes are being made to the Overseas Registration Exam used to assess the dental qualifications of dentists who are trained outside the EEA.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department is working with the General Dental Council on legislative proposals which will allow it greater flexibility to expand and improve on the registration options open to international applicants, which includes the Overseas Registration Exam. We aim to launch a public consultation on these proposals later this year.