AQW 38854/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 22/01/2026
Answered On Date: 11/02/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health for an update on efforts being taken by the Strategic Planning and Performance Group to address workforce issues within Community Dental Services (CDS), in particular providing clear commissioning guidance on the CDS scope of service as an important step in ensuring this service is not overrun, given that access to NHS dentistry in General Dental Services is declining.

Answer:

Community Dental Services (CDS) workforce planning responsibilities are shared across the Department of Health (DoH), the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG), and the Health and Social Care Trusts.

Trusts are responsible for developing business cases to address local workforce needs, including staffing shortages and changes in skill mix. Structural or regionwide changes to CDS fall under the remit of DoH. Training and workforce development are matters for the Workforce Policy Directorate, working closely with the Chief Dental Officer (CDO) and the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA).

My Department has progressed several workstreams to support reform of the CDS including a detailed analysis of CDS activity and patient treatment groups across all five Trusts and a UKwide scoping exercise on CDS referral criteria and service remits. These outputs have been shared with all CDS Clinical Directors.

Workforce pressures and service alignment have been regularly discussed at the quarterly CDS Clinical Director meetings with SPPG and the CDO. A BDAfacilitated CDS Roundtable in September 2025 prompted further collaborative work.

A dedicated regional meeting is scheduled for early February with the aim of reducing unwanted clinical variation between Trusts, producing an updated CDS scope of service and standardising data collection.