Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the targets for the additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments are met in areas with high vacancies in NHS dental services.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025.

Appointments will be available across the country. Patients will be able to access these additional appointments either through NHS 111, or via helplines set up by their ICB where these arrangements are in place.

The methodology used to determine how to allocate the 700,000 appointments across ICBs has considered factors including unmet need, population size and projected contract delivery at an ICB level in 2024/25. Details can be found in the letter sent to ICBs on 21 February 2025 and Annex A, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/arrangements-for-nhs-urgent-primary-dental-care-during-2025-26-and-confirmation-of-the-closure-of-the-new-patient-premium-scheme/#annex-a-distribution-of-700k-additional-appointments

ICBs will be responsible for ensuring these appointments are commissioned in line with local population need, to support improved access to urgent dental care for those most in need. We will monitor delivery monthly to identify where ICBs need further support to deliver against their allocated share of the 700,000 additional appointments.

Areas which are struggling to recruit and retain National Health Service dentists can make use of the Golden Hello scheme which is aimed to encourage dentists to work in areas where they are needed most.