Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new patients NHS dental practices in (a) Basingstoke constituency, (b) Hampshire and (c) England accepted in each of the last ten years.

Data on the number of new patients seen since March 2024 as part of the New Patient Premium scheme will be published by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in due course. This will be available at national as well as integrated care board (ICB) level. We do not hold historical data on the number of new patients seen.

The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to ICBs across England. For Basingstoke and Hampshire constituency, this is the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.