Found: We recognise that there is st ill progress to be made to make dental services faster, simpler and fairer

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total value was of general dental practice contracts that were handed back in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial year; and what proportion this was of the total commissioned activity in those financial years.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It has not proved possible to reply to the hon Member in the time available before Dissolution.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new general dental practice contracts were commissioned in each integrated care board in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It has not proved possible to reply to the hon Member in the time available before Dissolution.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many general dental practice contracts were handed back having been terminated by the contractor in each integrated care board in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It has not proved possible to reply to the hon Member in the time available before Dissolution.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans are on a waiting list for dental care.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The information requested is not held centrally by NHS England. Veterans are not systematically identified in National Health Service systems, and therefore it is not possible to confirm how many veterans are on waiting lists for NHS services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will require integrated care boards to collect data on the availability of NHS dental care services in their locality.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for undertaking oral health needs assessments, including any data collection, to identify areas of oral health need, inform local commissioning intentions, and determine the local priorities for investment. It is a contractual responsibility for all National Health Service dental practices to update their NHS.UK profiles at least once every 90 days. The Find a Dentist website gives details of the dental practices in an area, and whether they are accepting new patients, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

ICB-level data on the number of Units of Dental Activity and courses of treatment delivered, as well as the numbers of adults and children seen, is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dental appointments have been commissioned by North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board in Easington constituency in the last 12 months.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Activity in National Health Service dentistry is measured by the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) commissioned and delivered, and by the number of courses of treatment delivered, rather than by the number of appointments. Data on the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal, which currently holds data up to February 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity

Data on the number of courses of treatment delivered in 2022/23, and in previous years, is published by NHS Digital, and available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dental appointments have been commissioned by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board in the last 12 months.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Activity in National Health Service dentistry is measured by the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) commissioned and delivered, and by the number of courses of treatment delivered, rather than by the number of appointments. Data on the number of UDAs commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal, which currently holds data up to February 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity

Data on the number of courses of treatment delivered in 2022/23, and in previous years, is published by NHS Digital, and available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) access to and (b) the provision of NHS dentistry in Easington constituency.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In the 24 months to June 2023, 1,099,769 adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), the equivalent to 46% of the population. This figure is 10% higher than the year before, as in the 24 months to June 2022, 996,298 adults were seen by an NHS dentist.

On 7 February 2024, we published Faster, simpler, and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, which is backed by £200 million, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country, and to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Easington.

A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients, and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients. We have further supported dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28 this year, making NHS work more attractive and sustainable.

From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all ICBs across England. The Northeast and North Cumbria ICB is responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need, and determine the priorities for investment across the ICB area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 8 May 2024 in response to a question from the hon. Member for Weston Super Mare, which the 500 dental practices referred to are; and how many of those practices were registering NHS patients on 8 May 2024.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and as of 8 April 2024, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients, compared to the end of January 2024. The Find a Dentist website allows people to see which practices have said they are accepting new patients, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

No estimates are currently available on the number of new patients seen by dental practices since the New Patient Premium scheme was introduced, but we are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once this is available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which dental practices in Norfolk have been accepting new NHS patients since 1 March 2024.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients. No estimates are currently available on the number of new patients seen by dental practices in Norfolk but we are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once this is available. The Find a Dentist website allows people to see which practices in their area have said they are accepting new patients which is available here: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many courses of treatment were delivered by NHS general dental practitioners in each month between January 2019 to May 2024.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Dentistry Recovery Plan will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. We will further support dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 this year, making National Health Service work more attractive and sustainable. NHS dental activity, as measured by Courses of Treatments delivered, has increased by 23% between 2021/22 and 2022/23. The number of UDAs commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal, which currently holds data from April 2016 to January 2024. Further information is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS dental practices were listed as accepting new NHS adult patients on 1 (a) March and (b) May 2024.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients, and as of 8 April, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients, compared to the end of January 2024. The Find a Dentist website allows people to see which practices have said they are accepting new patients, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, published on 7 February 2024, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those plans on (a) the availability of NHS dentists and (b) waiting times for NHS treatment.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country, and to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Lancashire. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.

We will deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in need, including rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year. A Golden Hello incentive will encourage dentists into under-served areas. We will offer Golden Hellos of £20,000 to up to 240 dentists who join existing NHS practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s polices of recent trends in levels of (a) children, (b) women and (c) people unable to access NHS dental services in Kingswood constituency.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.

The Dentistry Recovery plan also sets out a new emphasis on prevention and good oral health in children. This includes supporting nurseries and early years settings to incorporate good oral hygiene into daily routines, and providing advice to expectant parents on how to protect their baby’s teeth. The plan will deploy mobile dental teams into schools to provide advice and deliver preventative treatments to more than 165,000 children.

A new patient premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients, and a new marketing campaign will help everyone who needs an NHS dentist in finding one. We have further supported dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28 this year, making NHS work more attractive and sustainable. We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress, once available. Annual dental statistics, including the number of adults and children who have seen an NHS dentist since 2015, are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics#past-publications

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) children, (b) women and (c) people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in Kingswood constituency since 2022.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients across England. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.

We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once available. No estimates are currently available of the number of children, women, and people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in the Kingswood constituency since 2022. Annual dental statistics, including the number of dentists offering NHS services since 2015, are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

Annual data on the number of NHS dental contracts commissioned since 2015/16 is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/dental-data/nhs-payments-dentists

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Found: Dental services and oral health 4.88 The quality of dental provision provided by Time for Teeth was

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Found: Dental services and oral health 4.102 Time for Teeth deliver ed a well -led dental service which met

Found: Dental services and oral health 4.88 The quality of dental provision provided by Time for Teeth was

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps are being taken to increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of NHS dentists.

Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care

The majority of NHS dental services are provided by independent contractors, including corporate entities, who not employed by the NHS but instead make ‘arrangements’ with NHS Boards to provide dental services in their area. As the Scottish Government has no direct control on recruitment within these private businesses, policy focus to date has been placed on improving the NHS offer by introducing a new fee scale and increasing the incentives available to the independent sector to provide NHS dental services. The initial impression from the sector has been encouraging in welcoming the changes to NHS fees.

In addition, we continue to make available targeted ‘golden-hello’ workforce incentives in areas where access has proved more challenging; this pays out up to £37,500 for dental trainees who join the dental list in a qualifying area.

In recognising that we have no direct levers to improve recruitment, at the national level we are focused on actions to improve the workforce supply, including leading discussions with UK and other devolved governments on our shared challenges. We therefore welcome the consultation brought forward by UK Government to vary the General Dental Council’s powers, allowing for a new provisional registration status to allow overseas dentists to enter the workforce much more quickly, and we are having preparatory discussions with stakeholders to understand how this could work in practice. Alongside work to improve international pipelines, we are also working to consider our domestic routes into dentistry and other dental care professions by ensuring that our educational offering reflects workforce need in all areas of the country.

By increasing the fees payable to NHS dentistry and improving workforce supply, the intention is to provide an improved landscape for independent contractors and dental bodies corporate to sustain NHS dental services into the medium- to longer-term.