NHS: Dentistry Provision

Lord Fuller Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Fuller]

To ask His Majesty’s Government how they intend to tackle the issue of ‘dental deserts’, areas with no NHS provision for dentistry; what plans they have to establish new dental schools to meet demand, and on the basis of what criteria decisions about new dental schools will be made.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, 28% of the population of England needs but cannot access NHS dentistry. We want to ensure that everyone who needs a dentist can get one, including by providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruiting dentists to areas that need them. Government approval is not required to establish new dental schools; we encourage prospective providers to approach the General Dental Council, and we will work with partners to assess the best distribution of training places.

[Lord Fuller (Con)]

My Lords, I live in Norfolk which, alongside its neighbouring counties, is the only part of our nation not to have a school of dentistry. Even the Secretary of State says that our county is the “Sahara of dental deserts”. It is important: poor oral health is the principal cause of admission to hospital for children of primary school age, and incidences of mouth cancer are being missed locally. The last Government announced plans to recruit 1,000 more dentists a year and to build completely new schools of dentistry in which to train them alongside hygienists. Will these plans be taken forward by the new Government? Does the Minister agree with me that, where entirely new schools of dentistry are to be established, it makes much more sense to put them where we do not have very many dentists, rather than to have even more schools where we do have them? I hope she will say that the Government look favourably upon the proposals from the University of East Anglia to establish a brand-new school of dentistry and oral hygiene in Norwich.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I commend the noble Lord for raising his long experience of facing and dealing with these problems locally in Norfolk. I note the report in September that the Norfolk and Waveney area has the worst ratio of NHS dentists to patients in England, with 1,000-plus people having to attend Norfolk’s casualty department last year due to serious dental issues, so this is a serious point. We are aware of the University of East Anglia’s interest in this area, and my colleague Stephen Kinnock, the Minister responsible for this area, recently met with east of England MPs to discuss this matter. However, as I have said, it is not the Government who make these decisions, although we encourage those new dental schools to be in areas of particular need. I encourage the University of East Anglia to take its proposals to the General Dental Council.