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Dental Services: Spen Valley

Asked by Kim LeadbeaterLabourDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 9 January 2025UIN 21527

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timescale is to provide funding for newly opened dental practices in Spen Valley aiming to secure NHS contracts.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Spen Valley constituency, this is the NHS West Yorkshire ICB.

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