Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to incentivise dentists to increase NHS appointments in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, this is the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB is expected to deliver 5,712 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

Areas which are struggling to recruit and retain NHS dentists can make use of the Golden Hello scheme, which aims to encourage dentists to work in areas where they are needed most.