Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of dental practices providing NHS services in Bristol.

The National Health Service contracts with independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment in primary care settings.

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, including in Bristol, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices to offer NHS treatments. These changes have been implemented, including through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022. The changes include fairer remuneration for practices providing complex treatment within current Band 2 treatments and removing barriers around use of staff skills mix in NHS dentistry.

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.