Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Dental Recovery Plan

Tuesday 6 June 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister plans to publish a dental recovery plan shortly.
  • Steps are being taken to reform the dental contract, including creating more bands for units of dental activity and introducing a minimum UDA value.
  • Jim Shannon suggested writing off student loans for those who commit to NHS dental work for five years.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Anthony Mangnall
NHS
Context

The question arises from ongoing concerns about dental services in the constituency, including issues with NHS dentists not taking on new patients or leaving the area.

Question

When does he plan to publish a dental recovery plan given that nearly every single one of the NHS dentists in my constituency is either not taking on new patients or leaving the area?

Answer from Neil O'Brien

Our dental plan will be out shortly. We are already taking steps to reform the contract, including creating more bands for units of dental activity and introducing a minimum UDA value to sustain practices where it is low. As a result, dental activity has increased by about a fifth on a year ago.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The exact date for publishing the dental recovery plan was not provided.

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Q2 Anthony Mangnall
NHS
Context

Following up on previous concerns, the questioner seeks a more specific timeline for the dental recovery plan due to continued issues with NHS dentists not taking on new patients or leaving their practices.

Question

I welcome the Minister's response and his comments in a recent Westminster Hall debate. It is clear that there is still a problem, and many of us are still asking for the recovery plan to come forward. I am afraid that “soon” is not good enough. Nearly every single one of the NHS dentists in my constituency is either not taking on new patients or leaving the area. Can we have this plan either immediately or sooner?

Answer from Neil O'Brien

We are working on all those ideas, and the plan will be out very shortly. We are already taking steps to reform the contract, including creating more bands for units of dental activity and introducing a minimum UDA value to sustain practices where it is low.

Partly answered

Not addressed: A specific date was not provided despite requests for immediate or sooner publication.

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Q3 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
NHS
Context

The question arises from a desire to increase the number of dentists willing to do NHS work, particularly in light of ongoing recruitment challenges.

Question

I thank the Minister for his response. Would he consider encouraging more students to go into dental work by writing off student loans for those who go into NHS dental work for a five-year period—in other words, we get something back if we invest in them?

Answer from Neil O'Brien

At every stage, we are taking action to get more dentists doing NHS work. There are 6.5% more dentists doing NHS work than in 2010. The hon. Gentleman has an important idea. We are doing other things to retain NHS dentists, such as the important reforms that we made to pensions.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific suggestion about writing off student loans was not addressed directly.

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