NHS Dental Recovery Plan
The plan will make payments to dentists to treat around a million new patients who have not seen an NHS dentist in two years or more. People will be able to see which practices in their local area are accepting new patients on the NHS website and the NHS App.
Over the last three years, the Healthwatch network has been raising people’s experiences of lack of NHS Dentistry and campaigning for fairer, more accessible, and affordable NHS dentistry. Our evidence tells us that people on low incomes, children and women, have particularly found it difficult to get an NHS dental appointment.
The dentistry recovery plan is a good start in addressing these serious problems. To widen access to NHS dentistry to those experiencing the greatest health inequalities, its vital dentists take up the new premium payments, promote availability of appointments to new patients and prioritise slots to people most in need.
We also welcome the move to incentivise dentists to work in ‘dental deserts’ with golden hellos, to use dental vans in remote areas and to roll out more prevention schemes for children.
However, in the long run more radical solutions are needed to get NHS dentistry back on track. We welcome the Government’s to commitment to consulting with the profession on the contract and urge this to happen as soon as possible.
