The Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee has once again called on the Government and NHS England to act urgently to resolve the crisis in NHS dentistry.
During a Backbench Business debate in the House of Commons, Steve Brine MP recognised the importance of urgency in responding to the situation. Recognising that; “We have a Minister who is committed to providing access to an NHS dentist for everyone who needs it and to a thorough overhaul of the current system and, in Integrated Care Boards, we have the possibility of being able to target local services to local needs.”
The MP went onto say : “I was delighted to hear him acknowledge to the Select Committee on Tuesday that he does want “quite fundamental reform” to the dental contract. He argued that that the existing reforms were welcome, but noted that they were only a start. This is good to hear.”
However acknowledging the slow speed of the physical response, Mr Brine called on the Department to read and act on the recommendations made in the upcoming Health and Social Care Select Committee report.
The debate comes only days after the Committee’s final session on their dentistry inquiry, which Steve Brine launched as a priority following his election to the post in November 2022.
Receiving hundreds of submissions, including from nearly 30 local Healthwatch groups, to the inquiry, Steve highlighted just one : “One of the many submissions we received talked about people extracting their own teeth with pliers—something that should not be possible in the 21st century.”
The Winchester and Chandler’s Ford MP also shared concerns from the sector around workforce and the “challenge of recruiting and retaining NHS dentists.” Appreciating that whilst the Government has started to act, announcing several changes to the 2006 dental contract, there was still lots of work to be done.
Steve’s full speech is available to watch back via SBTV [https://youtu.be/cK0TU3dNEO8]
More information
Read the full debate via Hansard
