AQW 839/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 31/05/2022
Answered On Date: 07/06/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health (i) for his assessment of the current system of NHS dentistry funding; and (ii) for an update on efforts being made to reform NHS dentistry funding to protect frontline services and provision of dentistry.

Answer:

I am pleased to have been able to commit record levels of investment into General Dental Services (GDS) in recent years.

To help sustain GDS during the Covid-19 pandemic, my Department has provided £76m in financial support to independent General Dental Practitioners over the last 2 years.

Further funding has been committed for the first half of 2022/23 to support dental practices, with dental fees being enhanced by 25% as part of the Rebuilding Support Scheme, to reflect the ongoing pandemic pressures practices are facing. This investment has been supplemented by an additional £6.5m made available to practices via Revenue Grant Schemes in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

In addition to this, for the last 5 years, the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration pay uplift recommendations have been implemented in full, including a 3% uplift in 2021/22, representing a total pay uplift of 11.24% since 2017.

My Department is committed to working with the British Dental Association and other organisations to develop a new GDS contract that will help build a sustainable, financially viable future for GDS.