Dental Services

(asked on 12th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 29th November 2021

The Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to increase the levels of National Health Service dental care that can safely be delivered. Dental practices have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and care for vulnerable groups, including children followed by overdue appointments.

In the Midlands, NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned a weekend access scheme from August 2021 to March 2022 to provide additional access for an estimated 17,250 patients. In addition, to increase access for children, two dental providers within each local authority will provide additional treatment within community dental services. No assessment has been made of the number of dental appointments lost, as this data is not collected in the format requested.

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