Lord Rennard
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NHS Dentistry
Lord Rennard Excerpts(2 days, 7 hours ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I welcome the suggestion from the noble Baroness, and I will raise that with the Minister, Stephen Kinnock. What I can say is that strengthening the dental workforce is absolutely central, as we have to rebuild NHS dentistry in this country. Integrated care boards have started already to recruit for dental posts through a golden hello scheme. That means that up to 240 dentists will receive payments of £20,000 across three years to work in those areas that need them most. Already, as of 10 February this year, 35 dentists have commenced in post, a further 33 dentists have been recruited, and hundreds of job posts are currently advertised. There is a long way to go, but we have made a very strong start.
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, we will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, next and then the noble Lord, Lord Glenarthur.
Lord Rennard (LD)
My Lords, the promised extra 700,000 appointments will mean just two extra appointments a month for each NHS dentist in England. The Health and Social Care Select Committee concluded in 2023 that the current dental contract is not fit for purpose, so will a new dental contract stop penalising dentists who take on more units of dental activity or patients with more complex dental needs?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
The noble Lord makes a very strong case for reform of the dental contract. The Minister concerned is very alive to the points he makes but, again, I will draw his attention to them. I do not quite recognise the figure that the noble Lord referred to on the number of extra appointments. If I can give just one example: out of 700,000 extra appointments, in the Midlands that will mean 143,424 extra appointments. I also emphasise that it is 700,000 extra appointments every year. If the noble Lord would let me have the figures to which he referred, I would be very happy to look into them.