AQW 26141/22-27


Ms Kate Nicholl
Alliance Party
South Belfast


Tabled Date: 28/04/2025
Answered On Date: 13/05/2025
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail any progress that has been made on improving access to NHS dentistry for children in South Belfast.


Answer:
General Dental Practitioners are independent contractors and, unlike General Medical Practitioners, are under no obligation to register new Health Service patients and are able to decide which patients they will treat under Health Service arrangements.
Access to Health Service dentistry is currently very difficult, particularly for unregistered patients, and this is likely to be the case for some time.
In regards to the steps taken to improve access to dental care there was a £9.2m investment in dental access initiatives for the 2024/25 financial year. This investment included £1m to fund an Enhanced Child Examination Scheme (ECE), £4.3m to fund a 30% enhancement to fees paid to dentists for priority treatments, and £3.9m to fund a Dental Access Scheme for the treatment of high priority unregistered patients.
Over 37,000 children aged 10 and under have been registered under the ECE since it came into effect in June 2024 with 2,214 patients in the South Belfast constituency. A total of 36 practices are currently participating in the Dental Access Scheme with over 500 patients currently accessing care each week. There are ten participating practices in the Belfast Trust area and two in the South Belfast constituency.
In addition, a 6% pay uplift for dentists was back-dated to April 2023 and is in line with the recommendation from the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body. The uplift came with a 7.3% uplift to non-staff expenses, with a 3% recurrent award in future years and represents an investment of £7m for 2023/24 and £5.3m for future years.
Investments for the 2025/26 financial year will be confirmed in the near future though a 6% pay uplift has already been approved which will be back-dated to April 2024 in line with the recommendation from the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body. The uplift will come with a 2.8% increase to non-staff expenses and represents an investment of £6.45m.
These investments aim to bolster support for dental practices and protect public access to health service dental care across Northern Ireland including in your constituency.