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 help improve access to NHS dentistry in Wakefield.

From July 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity and 100% of units of orthodontic activity to safely improve access for patients.  An additional £50 million was provided for National Health Service dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to support the provision of urgent care to patients. Of this funding, £8,633,000 was made available to the North East and Yorkshire region, including Wakefield.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association, on improvements to the NHS dental system to increase access, including in Wakefield.