Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Ninth Report - NHS dentistry
Health and Social Care Committee
HC 964
Published 14 July 2023
Government response
First Special Report - NHS Dentistry: Government Response to the Committee’s Ninth Report of Session 2022–23 · published 13 Dec 2023
Recommendations & Conclusions
4
Conclusion
Deferred
Mandate practices to adhere to NICE recall guidelines and prevent automatic patient removal
Conclusion
Practices should abide by NICE recall guidelines of up to two years for most adult patients, recognising the need for more regular recall for some, but people should not automatically be removed from dentists’ registers of NHS patients without good …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation but responds by detailing measures unrelated to NICE recall guidelines or patient registration. The response outlines NHS England's guidance on ringfencing dental allocations for ICBs in 2023/24 and measures to address underperforming contractors by rebasing contracts and recommissioning activity.
Department of Health and Social Care
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10
Conclusion
Deferred
Reinstate requirement for patients to be registered with an NHS dentist
Conclusion
We uphold the recommendation from our predecessors’ 2008 report into Dental Services, that the Department should reinstate the requirement for patients to be registered with an NHS dentist. (Paragraph 55) Workforce
Government Response Summary
The government reinterprets the recommendation to be about making best use of the wider dental team's skills, citing July 2022 guidance to enable dental therapists and hygienists to open treatment courses and a completed consultation on allowing them to supply/administer certain medicines without a prescription. They do not address the recommendation to reinstate patient registration.
Department of Health and Social Care
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