AQW 9988/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 12/04/2024
Answered On Date: 26/04/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health for an update on General Dental Service contractual reform.

Answer:

The need for dental reform has been acknowledged for a number of years, however the pandemic, followed by the absence of an Executive has hampered progress in this area.

Most recently, efforts have been focused on addressing the immediate access issues patients are experiencing and establishing options to support the sustainability of dental practices while reform is progressed. This has resulted in the £9.2 million additional investment for 2024/25, which I announced on 27 March 2024.

I am conscious of the developments in the rest of the UK in recent months, with Scotland, England and Wales adopting diverging models of remuneration. Officials are liaising with their counterparts in each region to monitor the impact of these models and assess the suitability of adopting a similar approach in Northern Ireland.

In addition, officials have held a number of engagement events with practitioners from across NI, the results of which will help inform decision making on the future of General Dental Services.