Dentistry: Hampshire

(asked on 2nd December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of dentists (i) nationally, (ii) in Hampshire and (iii) in Portsmouth South constituency; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 10th December 2020

The latest headcount data published by NHS Digital show that the total number of dentists actively delivering National Health Service services increased by 1,885 (8%) from 22,799 to 24,684 during the period 2010/11 to 2019/20.

NHS England and NHS Improvement and Health Education England (HEE) have initiatives in place to tackle recruitment and retention issues of dentists across England. As part of this work, HEE is reviewing the opportunities for flexible dental training pathways that can better serve patients as well as improving retention nationally in the long-term.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet local need and are aware of geographic shortfalls that may lead to limited service provision, including in Portsmouth South. NHS England’s Interim NHS People Plan commits to addressing shortages within the dental workforce. Action to deliver this will be set out in due course.

Reticulating Splines