Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that people have equal access to dental services.
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 improve access for patients safely. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association (BDA), to improve the National Health Service dental system and negotiations are currently underway on initial measures. This aims to improve patient access, reduce health inequalities and make the NHS a more attractive place to work for dentists.
An additional £50 million was allocated for NHS dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to provide urgent care to patients. This was targeted at appointments for patients in most need of urgent dental treatment, including vulnerable groups and children. In addition, Health Education England’s Dental Education Reform Programme is reviewing areas with a shortage of dental provision, to address inequalities in access.