Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility of NHS dentistry for patients with disabilities in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.

Community dental services (CDS) offer dental care to vulnerable patients who are referred by a general practitioner or social worker and cannot be treated in a general National Health Service dental practice or may be in locations that cannot access NHS dental services.

CDS hospital providers across the South-West region of England provide accessible dental services for patients with additional health needs. In Dorset this provision is run by Somerset Foundation Trust at Dorset County Hospital.