In February 2024 NHS England launched a national plan for NHS dentistry services in England.
Here in Dorset, we recognise that things need to improve and welcome the plan which aims to give better access to dental services, setting out the steps to make accessing dental care easier and faster, including:
• £200m of new national funding from the Government
• Creation of up to 2.5 million more appointments nationally
• Up to 1.5 million more treatments in NHS dentistry.
In the plan there are three main areas of focus:
• Improving Access
• Growing and supporting our workforce
• Supporting prevention
Services throughout the county have been under pressure for some time despite teams working hard to meet the rising demand, and whilst we have seen some improvements in access, more needs to be done to ensure that everyone who needs to see a dentist can do so.
In Dorset we are:
• Planning improved dental access in underserved areas. This includes improving access to urgent and stabilisation programmes
• From March 2024, improving access for people who have not been to a dentist in two or more years
• Encouraging dentists to work in areas which historically have been difficult to recruit to
• Increasing the minimum unit of dental activity (UDA) value from the £23 to £28 from April 2024
• Dorset has been named one of a handful of areas in England who will be part of a national programme to introduce a dental bus.
As plans develop, we will ensure updates are published on our website – www.nhsdorset.nhs.uk – when they are available.
