Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental services for (a) carers and (b) frontline care workers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a National Health Service dentist including for carers and front-line workers. We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments from 1 April 2025.
ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August 2025. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure carers are prioritised for NHS dental care.
Answered by Jo Churchill
National Health Service dentists have been asked to maximise safe throughput, focusing first on those in greatest clinical need, then care for vulnerable groups, followed by overdue appointments. Where carers meet these criteria they will be prioritised for NHS dental care.