Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry services in the South West.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with Health Education England and Bristol and Peninsula Dental schools through the South West Dental Reform programme to address the challenges facing National Health Service dentistry in the region. An additional £50 million was provided for NHS dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to provide urgent care for patients. Of this, £4,726,000 was made available to the South West region. From July 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked all practices to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity, including in the South West region, to improve access.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association, on improvements to the NHS dental system and negotiations are currently underway on initial measures. This aims to improve access to NHS dentistry nationally, including in the South West.