Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Fixing NHS Dentistry

Status: Closed Opened: 15 Jan 2025 Closed: 16 Jun 2025 1 recommendation 32 conclusions 1 report

Two-fifths of the adult population in England saw an NHS dentist in the 24 months up to March 2024 – this is down from just under half of the adult population pre-pandemic. There were 483 fewer dentists providing some NHS care in England in 2023-24 compared with 2019-20. The previous Government published its Dental Recovery …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry	HC 648	4 Apr 2025	33	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items

18 Conclusion 21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry Accepted in Part

Dental recovery plan ambition misaligned with targets, failing to ensure universal access

The initial announcement of the dental recovery plan claimed that its aim was to “significantly expand access so that everyone who needs to see a dentist will be able to”.51 However, that ambition was never aligned to the actual targets of the plan, as an additional 1.5 million courses of …

Government response. The government commits to NHSE carrying out analysis of the New Patient Premium, Golden Hellos, and UDA uplift initiatives, with data collected by July 2025 and a detailed breakdown provided by Autumn 2025, which will help assess the plan's impact.

HM Treasury

22 Conclusion 21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry Accepted in Part

Integrated Care Boards hold delegated responsibility and flexibilities for local dental service commissioning

Responsibility for commissioning dental services was delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) in April 2023.62 Within the national dental contractual framework, ICBs have some flexibilities that NHSE says should help them to tailor services to meet specific population needs.63 This includes the ability to commission additional services, and to support …

Government response. The government acknowledges the importance of strengthening engagement with ICBs and reaffirms their crucial role in local decision-making and dental contract reform. NHSE is actively engaging ICBs on policy implementation and will further enhance this through engagement and wider consultation …

HM Treasury

24 Conclusion 21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry Accepted in Part

National mobile dental van initiative proved ineffective; no Integrated Care Boards invested

The idea of identifying ICBs to commission mobile dental vans seems a particular example of an ineffective interaction between a national policy and an appropriate measure on the ground. NHSE and DHSC identified twelve ICBs to deliver the initiative,69 but none of these ICBs have since chosen to invest in …

Government response. The government acknowledges the need to strengthen relationships with ICBs and reaffirms the importance of local decision-making. NHSE has taken active steps to engage ICBs on policy implementation and upcoming reforms, including future engagement and a wider consultation for 2026 …

HM Treasury

29 Conclusion 21st Report - Fixing NHS Dentistry Accepted in Part

NHS dental workforce declines, facing over 5,500 unfilled vacancies nationally

The NAO reported that in 2023–24 there were 24,193 dentists providing some NHS dental care in England, a 2% decline on the total since 2019–20.87 NHSE data outlines that there is a large workforce gap that exists in NHS dentistry, with over 5,500 vacancies across the entire dental workforce in …

Government response. The government states it is addressing immediate challenges by delivering 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments from April 2025 and implementing the Golden Hello scheme, which has recruited 45 dentists and has 250 posts advertised. It also mentions longer-term plans for …

HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

Date	Witnesses
13 Feb 2025	Ali Sparke · NHS England, Amanda Pritchard · NHS England, Jason Wong MBE · NHS England, Jonathan Marron CB · Department of Health and Social Care, Sir Chris Whitty · Department of Health and Social Care	View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters

Date	Direction	Title
8 Jan 2026	To cttee	Letter from the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NH…
1 Dec 2025	To cttee	Letter from the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NH…
27 Mar 2025	To cttee	Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Soc…
13 Feb 2025	To cttee	Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Soc…