Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider the potential merits of funding the transport costs of pregnant women who need to travel to access NHS dental care outside their local area.
There are no current plans to do so. Where a pregnant woman is unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through a local National Health Service dental practice, they are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including for vulnerable people and pregnant women, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes have been implemented, including through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022.
Discussions on further improvements to the NHS dental system are underway and being led by NHS England, involving the British Dental Association, other dental stakeholder groups and patients.