National Cancer Plan

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ashley Dalton]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and offer my condolences on the loss of his Auntie Hillary. Yes, this plan is designed to ensure that an extra 320,000 people at the end of the course of the plan will have had their lives saved or be living well with cancer after their five-year diagnosis. We want to make sure that everybody gets that opportunity, regardless of where they live.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I welcome the national cancer plan, and in particular the Minister’s focus on early diagnosis and ending the scandal of postcode inequality. Cancer Research UK has highlighted that limited funding could significantly impact on progress against the plan, so can the Minister assure us that she is allocating funding in order to meet her own rightful ambitions, and say whether she is engaging with Cancer Research UK and others in the sector on the funding that is needed?

[Ashley Dalton]

Yes, I can confirm that, but it is not always about throwing extra money at things. It is about using the resources that we have in a better, more targeted way to be more impactful. I have worked with Cancer Research UK from day one of developing this plan and it has run right the way through it. We continue to work with the organisation as we move forward to make the plan a reality.

NHS Dentists

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Easton]

Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. We all understand that there are regional differences in how dental contracts work across our UK nations. However, a common theme is identified: many of our NHS dentists feel that they are being asked to do more to address complex needs with resources that simply do not match the reality on the ground. My research indicates that in some parts of the United Kingdom, the very way that dentists are paid actively works against the long-term interests of patients. The current system rewards quick, high-volume work rather than the kind of long-term, preventive care that is essential if we are serious about keeping mouths in Britain healthy.

Many of our newly qualified dentists tell me that the NHS contracts are inflexible, overly bureaucratic and in many cases financially unsustainable for anything beyond the most basic level of service.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

The hon. Member is making a strong case. The number of dentists leaving the NHS across the UK is driven by chronic underfunding and the failed dental contract. Last month, the Minister suggested that long-term fundamental reform might only be introduced from 2027 onwards. Does the hon. Member agree that that reform must be brought forward as soon as possible and that we need clarity on when? Does he also agree that the one-third cut in real terms of the dentistry budget that we have seen since 2010 must be reversed by this Government?

[Alex Easton]

I agree that reforms need to be brought forward a lot quicker.

What is the result? I will tell hon. Members what it is: we are seeing a growing number of dentists reducing the amount of NHS work, handing back NHS contracts altogether and leaving the profession earlier than they intended. I do not, for one moment, accept that that is a question of dedication or commitment. Our dentists, dental nurses, therapists and practice staff put in a hard shift day after day in a system that too often feels stacked against them. Their burnout is real; their morale is low. They are left apologising to patients, not only in North Down but right across the United Kingdom, for a system that is not of their own making and not under their control.

There is a human cost here. This must never be reduced to a dry debate about contracts and budgets, because behind every statistic is a person. Let us think of the elderly person in a British care home struggling to eat properly because they cannot get regular dental visits and their dentures no longer fit; the British parent trying desperately to get their child seen for a broken tooth, only to be told that their nearest NHS dentist is many miles away; or the low-income British citizen—the person who never missed an NHS check-up—now being told they can only be seen privately, at a fee far beyond their means.

Let me be absolutely clear: dental health is not a luxury; it is integral to our overall health and wellbeing. The facts are stark. Poor oral health is linked to heart disease, diabetes, respiratory infections and complications in pregnancy. Untreated tooth decay can cause severe pain, days lost from work or school, and a serious blow to confidence and mental health. Let us be honest: inequality runs through this story like lettering in a stick of rock. People on low incomes and those living in our most deprived areas are more likely to suffer the consequences of poor oral health and less likely to be able to escape them. Regrettably, the British reality in 2026 is this: children from our most deprived communities are still far more likely to be admitted to hospital for tooth extraction under general anaesthetic than anything else—an experience that is traumatic and, in many cases, entirely preventable.

I recognise that health is a devolved matter and that the four nations of our United Kingdom have taken different approaches to organising and funding NHS dentistry. In Wales, new contract models focused on prevention and patient-centred care are being piloted. Yet, as I understand it, patients still report serious difficulties in finding an NHS dentist and securing regular check-ups.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) on securing this important debate. I thank him for his work to raise awareness of the challenges facing dental patients in his constituency and across the United Kingdom. It is vital that we work together, across the four nations of the United Kingdom, to tackle the long-standing problems that adults and children have been facing in accessing an NHS dentist when they need one. I also thank other hon. Members and hon. Friends for their powerful contributions to the debate. I know that access to dentistry is a matter of continuing concern for Members and their constituents.

The concerns Members have raised support the many testimonies I have heard directly from patients, dentists, members of the wider dental team, and their representatives. In July 2024, we inherited a dental system in crisis. That is evident in the adult oral health survey of 2023, which provides the first picture of adult oral health in England for more than a decade, and shows poor oral health in adults. Among adults with their own teeth, over two fifths—41%—showed evidence of obvious decay, 93% had some form of gum disease, and 19% had one or more potentially urgent dental conditions. This Government are determined to fix that.

Our 10-year health plan confirms our commitment to transforming NHS dentistry so that it is fit for future generations. We have established a platform for future success by reducing the NHS dentistry underspend from £392 million in 2023-24 to just £36 million. The decrease in underspend is leading to an increase in NHS dentistry, but I absolutely accept that there is still a long way to go. Over the past 18 months, the Government have made great strides in improving NHS dentistry, not just for patients but for the dental workforce delivering oral care to our nation. My immediate priority when taking up this ministerial post was to ensure that people who need an urgent dental appointment are prioritised and able to access the care that they need quickly. It is essential that we direct care towards those who need it most.

We all have a duty to reduce health inequalities, which are sorely felt in NHS dentistry. That is why, since last April, we have been making extra urgent dental appointments available to ensure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. Those extra appointments are available across the country, and are more heavily weighted towards the areas in which they are needed most. We are also incentivising high street dentists to offer further appointments in order to maximise availability for those in need of urgent care.

We recognise that access to NHS dental services remains a challenge in certain parts of the country. In addition to our urgent appointments, integrated care boards are recruiting dentists through the dental recruitment incentive scheme—known as the “golden hello” scheme. That initiative offers a financial incentive to encourage dentists to work in underserved areas for a minimum commitment of three years.

This Government have heard dentists’ concerns that they do not think the current dental contract is fit for purpose. Talks are under way, including with the British Dental Association, to scope our plans for potential changes. We remain open-minded and keen to consider how different payment models could best improve the delivery of care to dental patients. In reforming the dental contract, we want to focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly. We also want to enable the whole dental team to work to the top of their capabilities.

But reforming the dental contract is a significant challenge, and there are no quick fixes or easy answers. That is why in our 10-year health plan, we committed to fundamental reform of the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with significant steps in 2026-27. Talks are under way with the British Dental Association, and we are making progress on these matters.

In addition to delivering fundamental contract reform over the longer term, we have already made significant progress through our 2026 reforms. We held a public consultation last summer on changes to the current NHS dental contract to address the pressing issues that dentists and dental teams said they were experiencing. The Government’s response, published in December, took account of the views of the dental sector as well as people with lived experience. Our reforms will utilise the existing dental contract to deliver the right care to the right people, while incentivising dentists to provide more NHS care. By prioritising patients with the greatest needs and making more efficient use of dentists’ time, the changes will ensure that the NHS dentistry budget delivers value for money for the taxpayer.

From 1 April, we will start to implement the reforms. For the first time, we are introducing provisions in the dental contract to embed urgent dental care appointments, making it easier for patients to access this care. We are increasing payments to dentists to deliver that care from £42 on average to £75 for that unit of dental activity. We are providing new treatment pathways for patients with complex treatment needs, paid at a set fee of around £250 or £700 depending on the pathway, while enabling and encouraging dentists to deliver more preventive care. These reforms will make full use of the existing dental contract, to ensure that patients receive the right care at the right time, while creating clear incentives for dentists to provide more NHS care. As I say, they will kick in from 1 April.

England has more than 38,000 registered dentists, of whom 10,700 are full-time equivalent general dentists delivering NHS care. As we take forward our reform programme to rebuild NHS dentistry, we are clear that strengthening the workforce is key to achieving our ambitions. This Government are committed to publishing a 10-year workforce plan to set out actions to create a workforce that is ready to deliver the transformed service set out in our overall 10-year health plan.

We are taking steps to increase the capacity of our dental workforce. As announced in our 10-year health plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practise in the NHS for a minimum period. We intend that minimum period to be at least three years. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health.

[Adrian Ramsay]

I thank the Minister for highlighting the need for the dental workforce to be strengthened. We have a dental desert in East Anglia. The University of East Anglia stands ready to open a new dental school. It has permission from the General Dental Council but is awaiting the funded undergraduate dental places that will be needed to start training new dentists from 2027. Can the Minister set out how those places will be made available on the basis of regional need, so that dental deserts such as the east of England can start to build a sustainable dental workforce?

ADHD Diagnosis

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) for securing this important debate.

Delays and problems relating to ADHD diagnosis are not just a marginal administrative issue, but a profound failure of our system to meet medical needs early, effectively and equitably. For too many children and adults, long waits for diagnosis can negatively shape their entire life trajectory, harming their educational attainment, mental health, employment prospects and personal relationships.

NHS estimates suggest that 2.5 million people in England have ADHD, including nearly half a million children and young people, yet demand continues to vastly outstrip capacity. In September 2025, over 60% of both adults and children had been waiting more than a year for an ADHD assessment.

In my constituency of Dewsbury and Batley, Rachel reached out to me rightly outraged at an 18-month wait for ADHD assessment, with Kirklees council working through a backlog from November 2022. Another constituent, Laura, has spoken about her difficulty accessing medication even after diagnosis. The pressure on councils has been increasing on all fronts, with funding decreasing at the same time over the 14 years of the previous Government. I am not blaming the councils, but they do need support.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I thank the hon. Member for giving way. He makes the point very strongly that long waiting times mean that children are being left behind. As we have heard, it was revealed last week that many integrated care boards are capping the number of assessments without telling GPs or patients. Does the hon. Member agree that a child’s access to diagnosis and support should not depend on where they live or whether their parents can afford to go private?

[Iqbal Mohamed]

I completely agree. We hear the phrase “postcode lottery” a lot, and we should not have a postcode lottery in our country for access to essential healthcare and educational services. Everybody should have equal access to the support that is available to other people, without having to go private.

The consequences of these delayed assessments are stark. Families are pushed towards private assessments they cannot afford, entrenching a two-tier system that makes a mockery of the NHS’s spirit of free care at the point of use by rendering access contingent upon income.

The Justice Gap also reports that around 25% of prisoners have ADHD, with many entering the system having not been diagnosed. They are more prone to reoffending.

I will conclude to give time for other colleagues to speak. I urge the Government to look at this issue holistically, as mentioned by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell), and provide support for children, adults and offenders. I believe that investment would render a greater return.

Budget Resolutions

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

This Budget was billed as a plan for renewal. In Waveney Valley, renewal is measured by what people actually feel: lower bills, better services, affordable local food and the protection of our irreplaceable natural environment, yet Kevin, a trustee of the Waveney food bank, told me a few days ago that demand continues to grow, reflecting hardship nationwide. Trussell reports that around 14 million people, including 3.8 million children, faced food insecurity last year. Scrapping the two-child limit in universal credit is very welcome indeed, and something I have long called for, but it alone cannot tackle structural poverty.

The Budget raises £26 billion, but most is held back to expand fiscal headroom rather than easing household pressures. Threshold freezes hit low and middle-income families, creating a disproportionate burden on ordinary households, while the wealthiest are still not paying their fair share. Opportunities to tax extreme wealth have been missed, and this decision punishes the many to protect the privileges of the few while families and public services continue to struggle.

Schools are facing severe financial pressure. Headteachers in my constituency report cutbacks to subject options and support services, and recruitment and retention remain challenging. Special educational needs are under particular strain. Demand for special educational needs and disabilities services has doubled, with deficits rising from £6.6 billion to £13.4 billion in three years and councils warning of insolvency. Thousands of children face long waits for assessments, and schools must meet needs without sufficient staff, training or funding. Urgent action is needed to stabilise SEND and schools funding in order to improve access and support.

The Budget was also a missed opportunity for farmers already struggling with rising costs and succession pressures. Agricultural property relief remains capped at £1 million per person, hitting ordinary family farms rather than the people I know the Government are trying to target: those buying up farmland to avoid tax. Along with experts such as Dan Neidle, I have argued that the APR threshold should rise to around £10 million to clamp down on tax avoidance without penalising family farms that make little money day to day.

Core farm costs have also been frozen. The environmental land management schemes remain underfunded, complex and difficult for smaller farms to access, preventing investment in nature restoration, climate-resilient practices and improved animal welfare. The sustainable farming incentive remains closed to new applicants, stalling access to properly funded schemes that are essential for environmental protection and a secure food supply.

The Budget promises 250 new neighbourhood health centres, which I very much welcome—they could restore rural services, and I look forward to seeing them in market towns across Waveney Valley—but there is no clarity on what it will mean for dentistry, which is already at a crisis point. Financing the health centres through public-private partnerships raises concerns and questions about long-term costs given the failures of PFI. Public investment must serve patients, not private profit.

This Budget makes promises with some welcome elements, but does not deliver the scale of renewal that our country needs. Public services are stretched, farmers are struggling, schools and councils face unsustainable pressures, and families across Waveney Valley continue to battle hardship. Kevin at the Waveney food bank hopes that one day he will be able to close the food bank for good, but on the basis of this Budget, there is a long way to go.

Oral Answers to Questions

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ahmed]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for sharing her personal experiences, and I would be delighted to meet her.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I welcome the approval of plans for a new dental school at the University of East Anglia. What arrangements and incentives will the Minister put in place to keep dental graduates in the most poorly served areas, such as my constituency of Waveney Valley?

Oral Answers to Questions

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ashley Dalton]

NHS England has worked with key stakeholders to develop a framework to aid integrated care systems to commission high-quality services for children and young people with cerebral palsy, including as they transition to adult services. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on cerebral palsy in the under-25s also sets out key considerations in transition planning.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

Data published last week shows that despite the Government’s initial action, the proportion of dentists working in the NHS in Norfolk and Waveney continues to drop. I am pleased to hear about the Government’s work on the dental contract, but the Public Accounts Committee is clear that this will work only if it is backed by sustainable funding. I will give the Minister another chance to answer the question: will the Government ensure that the extra funding that has been put into the Department is actually reflected in extra funding for NHS dentistry?

[Stephen Kinnock]

One thing that I made clear to officials when I came into this post was that every penny that is allocated to NHS dentistry must be spent on NHS dentistry. We are in a crazy situation where demand for NHS dentistry is going through the roof, yet we have had underspends. That needs to stop. We will focus the spending on where it is most needed, including areas that are under-served, such as the hon. Gentleman’s constituency.

Oral Answers to Questions

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

We have provided hospices in England with a record £100 million in capital funding, as my hon. Friend will know. ICBs are responsible for commissioning palliative and end-of-life care services, including hospices, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance to support that. I would of course be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that further.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

The British Dental Association recently published analysis showing that the proportion of NHS funding spent on dentistry more than halved under the Conservatives, who failed to account for inflation and demand to the cost of £1 billion. It is no wonder that we have dental deserts across much of the country. Will the Secretary of State ensure that dentistry receives its fair share of funding from the new NHS funding allocated in the spending review?

[Stephen Kinnock]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point to the neglect and incompetence of the past 14 years. We are fighting to get NHS dentistry back to where it needs to be. An important first step, of course, is the 700,000 additional urgent appointments and supervised tooth-brushing programme, but long-term contract reform is what is needed, alongside the investment that will come through the spending review.

NHS England Update

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

That is a brilliant question. We have put in place a transformation team, led by Sir Jim Mackey, which we will work with to start fundamentally changing the way the NHS works, by shifting more power, resources and responsibility out of Whitehall and closer to the frontline and the communities where decisions are made, and by getting rid of the unnecessary bureaucracy that drives patients and staff to distraction.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. We all want to see a well-run NHS that delivers for patients, but as he knows, patients are being treated in corridors, staff are severely overstretched and too many people cannot get access to a GP or a dentist when they need one. In that context, I was concerned to read in the media last week that there are plans for £7 billion of cuts to services, and for ICBs to be asked to cut costs by 50%. Can he reassure us that, as we go into the new financial year, we will not see cuts to frontline services? When I meet the chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney ICB next week, will I hear that cuts to frontline services are being considered as a result of Government budgets?

[Wes Streeting]

The reports relate to the deficits sent into NHS England ahead of the 2025-26 financial year. Those are completely unaffordable for the NHS and completely unrealistic. Those financial plans are being revised as we speak, which is why leaders have gathered in London today to receive that message and that set of instructions. I am asking frontline leaders to improve services and reform ways of working, and they will have my support in doing that. As for the resources that are going in, I gently point out that the investment that the Chancellor unlocked for the NHS and social care in her Budget dwarfs that which was promised in the Green party’s manifesto.

Dental Healthcare: East Anglia

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jerome Mayhew]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. There is a difference between milk teeth and grown-up teeth, as I will call them, although I know that is not the technical term. I hope that that assessment is wrong, but undoubtedly there will be problems. If there is a long-term lack of access to dentistry, it builds up problems, whether in the teeth or in the gums, both for children and for adults.

We can all talk about how we got here, and I can defend lots of very good things that the previous Administration did, but did we get everything right? No, we did not. What I am more interested in is how we can encourage the Government and work with them across the parties to solve the problem in the very near future.

I hope we have got to a reasonable analysis of why we are in this position. If it is substantially because of a lack of dental training facilities in the east of England, an obvious solution, although not the sole solution, would be a school of oral health at the University of East Anglia. The Minister knows that the UEA is ready to go. He knows that there is a building under construction and that a large amount of funding has been applied for, some of which has been already agreed. He knows that the UEA is making an application for registration with the General Dental Council and that it will be completed within the next six weeks at the latest.

That brings us to the crucial next step, which is the Office for Students. I recognise that the Minister is important and impotent at the same time. He is important because as the dental Minister he sets direction and gives impetus to change, but I accept that in some sense he is impotent because the Office for Students is an arm’s-length independent body. I hope he will take these requests in the light of my acknowledgment of his constraints, but it would be helpful for the UEA and the residents of our area to have his confirmation on the following three points.

First, can the Minister confirm whether additional dental training places will be made available by the Office for Students in 2025? It is a political decision how much funding the Government are prepared to put into the overall number of dental training places in the country in 2025. What is the pot that the Office for Students has to work with? Can he confirm that the number will be increased to take account of increased need?

Secondly, if that is the case, will there be a regional allocation within that global figure specifically for the east of England, given that the need is not national? There are regional variations, and in the east of England it is worst of all. There is precedent for that approach: recently, medical training places had a regional allocation, although I accept that historically it has not happened with dental places. It is an important point and would be of huge encouragement to our residents.

Thirdly, can the Minister give some indication of the timetable on which he and the Office for Students will work to process the 2025 allocations?

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I welcome the hon. Member’s comments. Indeed, the funding for the dentistry school at the University of East Anglia is a welcome step in addressing our chronic shortage of dentists in the region, but we need to ensure that there are strong incentives for those dentists both to stay locally and to stay within the NHS, which means meaningful contract reform to make it economic for dentists to practise in the NHS in the long term. In addition to his points, does the hon. Member agree that we need the Minister to set out the timescales for the Government’s pledge to review the dental contract?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for securing this vital debate on dental healthcare provision in East Anglia, and I thank hon. Members on both sides of the House for their important interventions.

The debate follows hot on the heels of a debate on 3 September that my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) led on healthcare provision in the east of England. We know that huge swathes of the region are dental deserts. These areas are facing great pressures from challenges in the recruitment and retention of dentists, leaving patients struggling to access the NHS dental treatments that they need. As has been pointed out, it is a scandal—frankly, it is Dickensian—that the No. 1 reason for children aged five to nine to be admitted to hospital in our country in 2024 is to have rotten teeth removed.

Norfolk and Waveney integrated care board had 31.5 dentists per 100,000 of the population in 2023-24, which is the lowest number in England. That is why I have met with colleagues from the east of England, including the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham, to discuss the specific challenges in the region and to discuss the University of East Anglia’s plans to open a dental school. The UEA’s proposal to begin training dental students is very welcome news. As I said to all the colleagues I met recently, and to the hon. Gentleman at oral questions last month, the Government strongly encourage the UEA to continue its progress towards establishing a dental school by submitting its bid to the General Dental Council as rapidly as possible.

The independent Office for Students is another key player. It has statutory responsibility for allocating funded training places to dental schools. As the hon. Gentleman has pointed out, the OfS is independent from the Government. I cannot make specific commitments about allocating additional training places for future years, because to do so would be to cut across the independence of the OfS. The OfS makes decisions based on its own assessments, following guidance issued by Government. What I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that our guidance is influential, but I cannot guarantee its outcome.

The guidance for the 2026 academic year will be published in due course. Provided that the UEA meets those requirements, it would absolutely be considered for Government-funded dental training places. That would certainly help to retain local dentists in East Anglia. As a Member for a rural constituency, I absolutely understand how important that is to the hon. Gentleman and to the many other hon. Members present who represent his part of the country.

We also need a clear-headed diagnosis of where we are. It is beyond doubt that NHS dentistry was left in an appalling state of disrepair by the previous Government. As the Prime Minister said last week, the precious contract between the state and the British people has been broken. He rightly said that our public services are

“in crisis, unable to perform their basic functions”

and that they are

“unable to provide the timely care and dignity that Britain relies on”.

Almost five years on from the beginning of the pandemic, NHS dentistry has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Only 40% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 months to June this year, down from almost 50% before the pandemic. Although 34 million courses of dental treatment were delivered in England in 2023-24, that is down from almost 40 million courses five years ago. As I say, it is disgraceful that having rotten teeth removed is the single most common cause of hospital admissions for children aged five to nine, causing them untold pain and suffering and affecting their ability to sleep, speak and socialise.

On the subject of the general state of dentistry, I thank the National Audit Office for its recent investigation of the previous Government’s dental recovery plan. Its report lays out in black and white something that was already apparent to millions of people across the length and breadth of our country: the dental recovery plan that we inherited did not go far enough. We are reflecting on every line of the NAO report as part of our efforts to rebuild dentistry, get it back on its feet and make it fit to serve people of all ages. We have launched the largest ever national conversation to inform our 10-year plan to reform the NHS, and our workforce will play a central role, because they are key to unlocking improvements across our communities.

The golden hello scheme offers dentists £20,000 to work in underserved areas of the country for three years. The recruitment process is well under way, with posts being filled by dentists in those areas as we speak. As of 7 November, 64 posts had been advertised. Our manifesto pledged 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and we are working to ensure that patients can start to access them as soon as possible. They will be targeted at the areas that need them most.

Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions, but for years dentistry has faced chronic workforce shortages. We have to be honest that bringing in the staff we need will take time. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract with a shift to focusing on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. There are no perfect payment systems, and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system, so that we deliver a system that is better for patients and the profession.

[Adrian Ramsay]

I thank the Minister for reiterating the Government’s commitment to reforming the dental contract. Please will he set out a timescale for that work commencing?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I was just going to say that we are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients. We are working on this as a matter of urgency. I cannot give a specific timeframe, but it is a top priority for the Department.

NHS Dentistry: Rural Areas

Adrian Ramsay Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Gibson]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point that I was not aware of. From discussing this matter with dentists, it was my understanding that these days, nobody is actually registered with a dentist; they are merely allowed to come regularly, and if they do not, they are taken off that dentist’s lists. My understanding was that it is quite difficult to register, so that is an interesting point that I hope the Minister will note.

A particular concern to dental practices, and a point that Denplan made very clear to me, is that once a dental practitioner has handed in their NHS provider number, even if the dental contract is improved, they are unlikely to come back to the NHS because of the complications involved in getting that provider number reinstated. That is why we need the Government to act now, before more dentists leave the NHS. Another issue for dental practices is that when qualified dentists come over from the EU, their qualifications are valid, but they have to spend an extra year training before they are allowed to register as NHS practitioners. That is slowing down any chance of increasing our intake from our European partners.

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for securing this debate, and particularly for highlighting the added impact that the loss of dentists has in rural areas, where, if people lose their dentist, there is often no other dentist nearby. In my constituency, people frequently say that they struggle to find any dentist taking new NHS patients. She is right to highlight that the dental contract is the root cause of the issue, and to press for a clear timescale. Does she agree that by the end of this calendar year, the Government should have set out a timescale for starting crucial negotiations on the contract?

[Sarah Gibson]

I agree that a timeline for reforming the dental contract is vital; that is what I am asking for. If we lose this opportunity and our NHS dentists leave the system, we will be in an increasingly difficult place. Across Wiltshire, for those not already registered with an NHS dentist, it is absolutely impossible to get one. There is not a single practice taking on NHS patients right across the unitary authority of Wiltshire, despite its size.