Reacting to today’s announcement of an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments in England, Professor Grant McIntyre, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh said:
“Whilst we are delighted that the Government has followed up on its manifesto pledge to roll out extra appointments across the country, this is only a first step in improving access to the millions of patients who need urgent dental treatment.
“NHS Business Service Authority statistics show that 34 million courses of treatment were delivered in England during 2023/24 for 24.6 million patients with 24,200 dentists performing NHS dental activity (Dental statistics – England 2023/24 | NHSBSA). This means the extra 700,000 dental appointments represent only an increase of 2.85% on 2023/24 appointment levels and is actually a net reduction when compared to the 4.3% increase in 2022/23.
“To get back to pre-COVID levels of NHS dentistry, an extra 4 million appointments are needed.
“We acknowledge the government’s admission that NHS dentistry is broken and the steps already taken, such as abolishing the patient premium, to address the systemic problems that impinge NHS services.
“We also agree that a focus on prevention, retaining NHS dentists and reforming the NHS contract to make NHS work more appealing to dentists will take time.
“Given how NHS dentists are able to spot other conditions, such as oral cancers, at an early stage, they have a vital role to play in meeting the aspirations of the Ten Year Plan in England.
“We would therefore encourage the Westminster government to oversee further additional dental appointments to meet this level as soon as possible."