Oral Answers to Questions

Mary Kelly Foy Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Neil O’Brien]

Absolutely; my hon. Friend and I have talked about this. We are looking urgently at payment models and measures to address areas that are struggling to attract the right workforce. The commissioning of dentistry will be coming down to a more accountable local level in April, and we need to build on that.

[Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)]

My constituents in Durham have told me tales of DIY dentistry, missing teeth, children in pain and the unfairness of only being able to access dental care if they can afford it. Things should not be this way. The British Dental Association does not accept that the Government’s new plans go far enough to halt the decay in NHS dentistry provision. Will the Minister tell me when the Government will put in adequate funding and reform so that people in Durham can get the dental care that they need and deserve?

[Neil O’Brien]

As well as increasing the number of dentists doing NHS work and the amount of work being done, we are taking further steps to look to the longer term and build NHS dentistry. The number of dental school places is up from 810 in 2019 to 970 in 2021, but of course we want to go further. We are making it easier for dentists to come to the UK to practise. In fact, we laid draft secondary legislation on 11 October to give the General Dental Council more flexibility to do that. Around the country, plans are advancing for centres for dental development to provide not only additional dentists but hygienists and other nurses.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend raises an extremely important case. I am happy to meet him to discuss it further, because it is a concerning case and I am keen to engage with him on it.

[Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)]

T9. My hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), the shadow Minister for public health, touched on health inequalities earlier, but I did not hear the Health Secretary recommit to publishing the White Paper by the deadline. Does he understand that the cost of living crisis and poverty are leading to greater health inequalities and that action is needed urgently? Can he recommit to that White Paper being published?

[Steve Barclay]

We are absolutely committed to addressing health inequalities. Rather than simply looking at 10 years’ time, we are looking at the immediate actions we can take, because what matters—[Interruption.] Those on the Opposition Front Bench chunter about White Papers, but what I am interested in is immediate delivery—what we can be doing now, rather than speculating about what is done in 10 years’ time.