Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, published on 7 February 2024, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those plans on (a) the availability of NHS dentists and (b) waiting times for NHS treatment.

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country, and to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Lancashire. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.

We will deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in need, including rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year. A Golden Hello incentive will encourage dentists into under-served areas. We will offer Golden Hellos of £20,000 to up to 240 dentists who join existing NHS practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.