Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Gordon Excerpts

Tuesday 14th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental services.

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

6. How many urgent dental appointments have been provided since 1 April 2025.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

11. How many urgent dental appointments have been provided since 1 April 2025.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend is a strong campaigner for her constituents. The situation that she sets out is unacceptable, but change is under way. I am encouraged by the latest data for her ICB area, which shows a 79% success rate for those who tried to get an NHS dentist appointment in the past two years, and that 10% more treatments were delivered between April and October 2025, compared with the same period before the election. Our reforms from this April will go further, focusing on those with the most urgent and complex needs, to ensure that people can access care when they need it most.

[Tom Gordon]

I have been contacted by dentists from across my constituency who want to expand access but are constrained by the current funding model. One NHS practice tells me that it has the physical space ready for a dentist to start working, but it cannot get them in because of the current funding model, forcing a reliance on short-term foundation dentists on rotations. Will the Minister outline what steps he is taking to reform NHS dental funding, and will he meet me to discuss the issues in my constituency?

[Stephen Kinnock]

I am encouraged by the fact that, in the hon. Gentleman’s Humber and North Yorkshire ICB area, 52,795 more NHS dental treatments were delivered between April and October 2025 compared with the same period before the election, so some progress is being made, but more must be achieved. Long-term contract reform will enable the resolution of some of the funding issues that he mentions—that is ongoing work—and we will come forward in the summer with a public consultation on delivering fundamental reform to the dentistry contract.