Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of number of NHS dentists in Bournemouth East constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022/23, 349 dentists in the Dorset Integrated Care Board performed National Health Service work. This is equivalent to 44.9 dentists per 100,000 population. The Dentistry Recovery Plan will make dental services faster, simpler and fairer for patients and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment.
The plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, including the introduction of a New Patient Payment Premium of up to £50 for each new patient. This is on top of the funding dental practices already receive for delivering that care. We will further incentivise dentists to do more NHS work by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28. As part of the Dentistry Recovery Plan, we will launch a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
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 the accessibility of NHS dentistry for patients with disabilities in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community dental services (CDS) offer dental care to vulnerable patients who are referred by a general practitioner or social worker and cannot be treated in a general National Health Service dental practice or may be in locations that cannot access NHS dental services.
CDS hospital providers across the South-West region of England provide accessible dental services for patients with additional health needs. In Dorset this provision is run by Somerset Foundation Trust at Dorset County Hospital.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Healthwatch England report What people have told us about NHS dentistry, published on 20 December; what assessment they have made of the particular finding that only two per cent of NHS dental practices in Gloucestershire are accepting new adult patients, while those in (1) Dorset, (2) Devon, (3) Cornwall, and (4) the Isles of Scilly, are accepting none at all; and what steps they are taking to encourage more dentists to accept NHS patients.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department has considered the report, which reflects that National Health Service dentistry continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. NHS England and NHS Improvement have set increasing thresholds for activity in NHS contracts, supporting increases in access whilst maintaining compliance with infection prevention and control measures.
We have provided an additional £50 million for NHS dental services in 2021/22 to ensure access for more people, including children and vulnerable patients. Local commissioning teams have also been reminded of the importance of updated information on additional practice sessions for NHS 111 to direct patients as required.
Since September 2021, there are an additional 24 urgent dental care appointments each week in Gloucestershire. In the South West, NHS England are working with Bristol and Peninsula Dental schools as part of the South West Dental Reform programme to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry in the region. The programme is looking at innovative ways to attract dental staff and increase access.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of number of NHS dentists required in West Dorset.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As independent providers of NHS services, general dental practices are responsible for the recruitment of staff to meet the conditions of their National Health Service contract. No formal assessment has been made of the adequacy of the number of NHS dentists in West Dorset.
However, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with Health Education England and Bristol and Peninsula Dental schools as part of the South West Dental Reform programme to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry in the region. The programme will be look at innovative ways to attract dental staff to areas including Dorset.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists his Department plans to recruit in (a) England and (b) Dorset over the next 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As independent providers of NHS services, general dental practices are responsible for the recruitment of staff to meet the conditions of their National Health Service contract. No formal assessment has been made of the adequacy of the number of NHS dentists in West Dorset.
However, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with Health Education England and Bristol and Peninsula Dental schools as part of the South West Dental Reform programme to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry in the region. The programme will be look at innovative ways to attract dental staff to areas including Dorset.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of workers providing NHS dental services in Dorset in (a) 2021, (b) 2020 and (c) 2019.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the number of dentists providing National Health Service dental services measured by claims submitted to the NHS Business Services Authority for NHS dental activity in Dorset in the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21. This data is based upon returns of FP17 NHS dental prescription forms.
2018/19 | 378 |
2019/20 | 376 |
2020/21 | 354 |
Source: NHS Digital
Data is not held on other members of the dental workforce.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people seeking access to NHS dental services in Dorset in (a) 2021, (b) 2020 and (c) 2019.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such estimate has been made. Patients are not required to register with a practice to receive National Health Service dental services and therefore no waiting list data is held for NHS dentistry.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists there are in West Dorset.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
While data is not held specifically for West Dorset, there were 354 general dental practitioners delivering National Health Service care in Dorset in the 12-month period to 31 March 2021.