Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of NHS dentist appointments available for people in Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.
Answered by James Morris
In 2019, a review of mandatory dental services in Kent identified Faversham as an area of significant need. Following this review, National Health Service dental contracts were agreed with five new dental practices with an overall increase of 19 whole-time equivalent dentists.
NHS England is currently preparing to procure further mandatory dental services in Kent, based on the current areas of greatest need. This will be aligned to the review being undertaken by NHS England and the South East Region Consultant in Dental Public Health.
Since July 2022, NHS England has asked practices to deliver 100% of contracted units of dental activity to safely improve access for patients, including in Faversham and Mid Kent.
The Department and NHS England have recently announced improvements to the NHS dental system to increase access, target patients with higher oral health needs and make NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work for dentists and their teams, including in Kent.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to primary care services for people in Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.
Answered by James Morris
We have committed to recruit an additional 26,000 primary care staff in Primary Care Networks. In Kent and Medway, more than 400 additional roles staff have been recruited, including pharmacy technicians, first contact physios and mental health practitioners.
NHS England is working with local partners to attract general practitioners (GPs) to the area and encouraging trainees to undertake placements in Kent. In Kent and Medway, 19 GP trainees are being funded through the Targeted Enhancement Recruitment Scheme. Kent Medical School has 100 medical students hosted in Kent and Medway general practices. NHS England is procuring new mandatory dental services, based on the current areas of greatest need in Kent.