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 access to NHS dentistry (a) nationally and (b) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Dentists have been asked to prioritise urgent treatment, with provision of over 600 urgent dental care centres across the country, 13 of which are operating across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also commissioned additional clinical sessions in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including in Basingstoke, Alton, Farnborough, Gosport, Southampton, Ventnor and Bembridge.
From April 2021 two new dental practices will be opening in Portsmouth and a new practice is expected to open in Tadley in July. This is in addition to a new practice that was established in Alton in December 2020. The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible.