Recommendation 24

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 a dental van.70 DHSC acknowledged that ICBs know their own “patches” the best, and that allowing them to use that knowledge to decide on the best way to provide dental service would be preferable to trying to direct that from Whitehall.71 NHSE also acknowledged the importance of working with local commissioners, especially given that dentistry is a delegated service, to share best practice and to have accountability for implementing reforms locally.72 We note that this will be tested in the proposed method for actioning the new government’s commitment to delivering an additional 700,000 urgent appointments.73 In written evidence after the evidence session, NHSE and DHSC told us that dental commissioning teams within ICBs will be working to make these appointments available as soon as possible from April 2025.74 67 Q 55 68 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 69 NHSE, Dental recovery plan update, Annex B, published 10 May 2024 70 Q 49 71 Q 51 72 Q 48 73 Q 101 74 Letter from the Interim Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care and the Chief Executive Officer at NHS England relating to a follow up on the oral evidence session held on 13 February 2025 on Fixing NHS Dentistry, 18 March 2025 16 2 Future reform of NHS dentistry Establishing the true cost of NHS dentistry