Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to allow dentists carrying out NHS work to trade units of dental activity more flexibly after March 2023.
On 29 March 2021, NHS England published a flexible commissioning toolkit for regional commissioners. Flexible commissioning is an element of existing National Health Service dental contracts that enables Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) to be better targeted towards priority and high needs groups of patients. Although we have no current plans for a review of flexible commissioning, NHS England is continuing to monitor the use of the arrangements to meet local needs.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care 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. This includes enabling commissioning of up to 110% of contracted UDAs to increase NHS care from December 2022.
NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place this year.