Dental Services
(asked on 19th May 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to Integrated Care Boards on managing the transfer of NHS dental patients when a practice (a) hands back and (b) partially hands back its NHS contract.
No estimate has been made of the number of patients whose regular National Health Service dentist has ceased to provide NHS care in the last 24 months.
The NHS contracts with independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment in primary care settings. This means that providers can terminate their contracts within the required terms of the contract, including a notice period. NHS England and integrated care boards across England work together to ensure that patients who are affected by closures of NHS dental practices continue to have access to the dental care they need.
We have delivered 1.8 million more dental treatments and reduced the underspend from £392 million in 2023/4 to just £36 million in 2024/5, maximising the treatments provided for taxpayers’ money.
Patients in England are not registered with an NHS dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend.
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, which is available at the following link: