Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help increase dentistry training places.
As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we are going to increase dentistry training places by 40% so that there are over 1,100 places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.
Furthermore, we are currently working on a plan for dentistry to improve access to dental care across England. Our plan will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022 and will address making National Health Service work more attractive to ensure dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.