We are continuing to improve the availability of NHS dental services. We have commissioned ten dental practices to provide additional appointments during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays as part of our dental access initiative. From September 2023 to February 2025, over 23,000 additional patients received access to dental treatment during these times, which are being provided in addition to the existing commissioned NHS services. This additional appointment capacity is helping patients with urgent needs as well as those who have not had access to dentist in the past two years to access care.
As part of this initiative, we are also at the forefront nationally in piloting a technology solution which enables NHS 111 to book appointments for treatment directly into dental practice appointment systems. Previously, patients would have been informed by 111 how urgently they needed to be treated, and they would be provided contact details of local dental practices to try to arrange an appointment. This new appointment functionality eliminates the need for patients to have to call dental practices themselves to try to arrange treatment.
We have plans in place to continue to increase the number of additional appointments available through our dental access initiative to provide even more NHS dental care for residents.