Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure residents in deprived areas have access to dental care.

David Mowat

NHS England has a legal duty to commission National Health Service dental services to meet the needs of the local population. NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set based on the outcome of an oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with local authorities, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community.

NHS England is also working up plans to start testing new ways to improve children’s oral health in 10 high needs areas by innovative commissioning, focussed on encouraging take up of services that are available. The 10 high needs areas selected will be announced in November 2016.