NHS dentistry on the agenda in the House of Commons

On Tuesday, 9th January, there was an opposition day debate on dentistry in the House of Commons called by the Labour Party. These are debates which usually do not change laws but allow MPs to raise important issues.

Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health secretary, opened the debate. He quoted a recent Nuffield Trust report on dentistry but critiqued its conclusion that NHS dentistry would have to be further restricted. Streeting also outlined access difficulties patients faced both for registration and appointments. He then raised the dental recovery plan delay and pledged that Labour would deliver 700,000 appointments, institute at-school tooth brushing and reform the NHS dentistry contract. Streeting also highlighted the importance of prevention.

Victoria Atkins, the Health Secretary, responded for the Government.

She highlighted the challenges of rural communities and the latest NHS stats showing a recovery in the number of being seen by a dentist. She also emphasised that the pandemic was a significant issue for Dentistry.

Atkins outlined the importance of the NHS workforce plan – arguing it will help by expanding dentistry training places and helping overseas recruitment. Atkins further highlighted the expansion of local fluoridation schemes and that the Government was pushing supervised toolkits.

She then addressed some of the 2022 reforms, including expanding the number of UDA bands and ensuring quicker dental place availability updates online.

Atkins said the NHS dentistry recovery plan was "soon to be published". Andrea Leadsom, the dentistry minister who closed for the Government, hoped the recovery plan would be "very soon".

Most backbench MPs to contribute were from the opposition and raised issues including:

Issue of being patients forced to go private
Constituents struggling to register or get appointments
Issues of pregnant women not getting appointments
Issues in veterans dentistry

However, some Conservative MPs highlighted issues in their areas and criticised the 2006 dental contract and the failings of integrated care boards. This included Steve Brine, Conservative chair of the Health Select Committee, who challenged ministers on the reality of their ambition that everyone should be able to access an NHS dentist.

Healthwatch references:

Seven MPs quoted Healthwatch England research or releases, and Healthwatch Lancashire was mentioned by Ashley Dalton MP.

You can watch the debate here