Dental Services: Closures

(asked on 3rd July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time taken is for NHS England to recommission dental practices following the closure of a practice.


Answered by
Seema Kennedy Portrait
Seema Kennedy
This question was answered on 8th July 2019

Data on the number of dental practice closures in England or on the average time between a practice closing and, where it previously held a National Health Service contract those services being recommissioned is not held in the format requested. This answer covers England only as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for dental services, along with wider health services, in their respective administrations.

NHS England has a legal duty to commission primary care NHS dental services to meet local needs, and as part of this duty completed a comprehensive service needs assessment of Portsmouth in 2017.

NHS England identified Portsmouth as an area requiring additional dental activity/capacity to meet patient needs, and as a result has put in place longer term plans to procure new dental services, as well as working with existing Portsmouth dentists to provide additional capacity in the area to treat patients.

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