Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Dental Service Recovery And Capacity Funding

10 February 2022 · 0 other contributors · 951 words

Opened by Maria Caulfield Con Lewes

Responding minister: Not recorded

NHS

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Maria Caulfield raised concerns about dental service recovery and capacity funding in Westminster Hall. Response awaited from government.

Key points

  • Concerns raised about the impact of the pandemic on access to dental services, with practices limited to urgent services and a backlog that continues to grow.
  • The speaker asks that Members contact local commissioners to ensure effective use of the 50 million announced for buying urgent capacity in the dental system.
  • The speaker urges Members to inform the relevant parties if there are difficulties in spending the allocated funds to secure more appointments.

Key requests to Government

I ask that Members from all parties contact their local commissioners to ensure that the £50 million announced is used effectively to buy urgent capacity in the system. If there are difficulties in spending this money, I urge them to inform us so we can make better use of it and secure more appointments.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Maria Caulfield Con Lewes

I am concerned about the significant impact that the pandemic has had on access to dental services. Since lockdown, practices were reduced to urgent services only and it took until June 2020 for them to open again at up to 20% of normal activity. This backlog continues to grow even as urgent appointments have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, dentists face the challenge of dealing with cancellations due to staff sicknesses and patients testing positive for covid-19.

▸ Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy