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 dental services for new patients in Hertfordshire.

NHS England asked dental and orthodontic practices to return to full delivery of contracted activity from July 2022, including in Hertfordshire. Many contractors are already delivering at 100% of contracted activity.

National Health Service commissioners in the East of England will shortly publish an expression of interest exercise to understand the current capacity of providers in the region, including Hertfordshire. Where there is capacity, NHS England plans to offer additional non-recurrent activity to support patients to access NHS dental services.