Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to require private dental practices to provide payment plans for customers in need of urgent dental care.

There are currently no plans for private dental practices to provide payment plans for customers in need of urgent dental care.

Between April and June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 95% of contracted units of dental activity to safely improve access for patients. An additional £50 million was provided for National Health Service dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to provide urgent care to patients. The appointments were targeted to patients in most need of urgent dental treatment, including vulnerable groups and children.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association, to improve the NHS dental system. This aims to improve patient access, reduce health inequalities and make the NHS a more attractive place to work for dentists.  Negotiations are currently underway on initial measures.