Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult on a new NHS dental contract to provide access to general dentistry; and what steps they will take to ensure that local commissioners work with providers to make existing contracts sustainable.

NHS England is holding discussions and consulting with the British Dental Association (BDA) and the wider dental sector for additional reforms of the National Health Service (NHS) Dental System, planned for 2023. NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population, with many of these functions transferring to integrated care boards (ICBs) from April 2023. They will work with commissioners and providers, supported by NHS England’s Assurance Framework.

‘Our plan for patients’, announced in September 2022 and available in an online-only format, outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care. This includes improving the 2006 contract to ensure fairer remuneration for practices providing complex treatment as well as enabling dentists to make better use of dental teams to deliver NHS treatment. These changes were discussed with stakeholders and implemented through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022, improving access to general dentistry and making the NHS contract more attractive and sustainable to dentists and their teams.

The Department also worked with NHS England and the BDA to introduce a minimum Unit of Dental Activity value in October 2022, the implementation of which will support commissioners to work closely with providers in ensuring NHS dental contracts are sustainable.