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 (a) access to and (b) the provision of NHS dentistry in Bournemouth West constituency.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. In the 24 months to June 2023, 245,772 adults saw an NHS dentist in the Dorset ICB, equal to 39% of the adult population in the ICB. In the 12 months to June 2023, 73,084 children saw an NHS dentist in Dorset, equal to 51% of the child population in the ICB.