Recommendation 1

HM Government Accepted

Accept The Department accepts this recommendation. We want to ensure that every adult and child who needs an NHS dentist can access one, regardless of where they live. The package of reforms we announced in July 2022 was an important initial step towards improving access to NHS dentistry, and included: • Allowing the best performing practices to see more patients (up to an extra 10% activity), • Making better use of the skills of a range of professionals such as dental therapists, hygienists and nurses, • Rewarding dentists more fairly for providing more complex care – for example, dentists are now paid more when they need to do three or more fillings or extractions and provide more complex care such as root canals in molar teeth, • Keeping patients updated on the availability of local NHS dentists by ensuring all NHS dentists regularly and routinely update the NHS website with their availability; and, • Enabling local commissioners to manage contracts more responsively and actively, by working with dentists to redistribute contracted activity and rebase consistently underperforming contracts. It is encouraging that the latest annual dental statistics suggest gradual recovery is starting to take place. While the impact of the 2022 reforms is difficult to fully quantify, in part because the majority of the changes only came into force in December 2022, the 2022–23 annual statistics show that NHS dental activity is increasing. The annual dental statistics show a 23% increase in Courses of Treatment delivered between 2021/22 and 2023/23 which is an increase of 6.1million. The number of patients being seen is also increasing with 10% more adults being seen and an increase of 14% of children seeing an NHS dentist in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22. But we know we need to do more to ensure that everyone who needs to access an NHS dentist can do so. Figures from the latest GP Patient Survey show that three quarters of people who tried to get an NHS appointment in the last two years were successful, but this is still lower than the 92% success rate seen in 2019. Although activity levels are increasing, care delivered is also still below what we saw before the pandemic. We recognise that in some parts of the country it can be difficult to access an NHS dental appointment. That is why it is so important that the public are aware that they are able to choose which dental practice they attend and do not need to be registered with a practice. This enables greater patient choice and gives more flexibility for patients to travel to practices outside of their immediate area if they cannot access an appointment locally. We also acknowledge that some of the population will prefer to access private dentistry. Figures from the latest GP Patient Survey show that only just over half of those surveyed had tried to access an NHS dentist appointment in the last two years. Of those who had not tried to get an NHS dentist appointment in that time, 28% reported this was because they prefer to go to a private dentist. The transfer of responsibility for commissioning NHS dentistry services from NHS England to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) on 1 April 2023 provides a greater opportunity to tailor services around the needs of the local population with local representatives who have a real understanding of the local situation and the specific needs of the population for dentistry services in the area. The forthcoming Dentistry Recovery Plan will seek to continue improving access for patients.