On 4 October 2023, as part of the Prime Minister’s smokefree generation announcement, the Government also announced an additional £70 million of funding per year to local stop smoking services to help even more people to quit smoking. Local authorities will work with a range of local partners to deliver this. The announcement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stopping-the-start-our-new-plan-to-create-a-smokefree-generation

Dentists are all qualified prescribers. Several health professions can undertake training to independently prescribe including nurses and optometrists. This allows healthcare professionals who have the necessary skills and experience to prescribe within their area of professional competence. These professionals would need to have the necessary skills in prescribing nicotine replacement therapy and have been commissioned to provide the service.

The Department has taken measures to align the terms and conditions of National Health Service staff where appropriate. There are sections in both the doctors and dentists in training contract and the specialty and specialist doctors contract which mirror the Agenda for Change contract, such as the leave and pay for new parents and balancing work and personal life. The ambition is to do the same for a future updated contract for consultants.

The Department has not made an assessment of aligning the pay of staff on the Agenda for Change contract and staff on doctors and dentists terms and conditions. Where pay structures have been modernised, these reflect the specific needs of the workforces they relate to.

The Government continues to keep the number of dental school places that it funds under review.

NHS England has been commissioned to produce a long-term National Health Service workforce plan. The Government has committed to publishing the plan shortly and this will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10- and 15-years’ time, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The workforce plan is for the whole of the NHS workforce, including dentists.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the number of medical school places is in line with England’s workforce requirements.

We have committed to publishing a workforce plan this year. The plan is currently in development. The plan will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking account of improvements in retention and productivity. The workforce plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce, including dental care professionals.

The following table shows information from the Office for Students (OfS) on the number of entrants and target intakes for dental training courses in each year since 2015/16.

Source: OfS Medical and Dental Students Survey (2015-2021)

Note:

*figures are aggregated totals from OfS and may not match provider subtotals. 2021 entrants are based on initial figures and are likely to change.

We are on schedule to deliver an additional 50,000 nurses by the end of March 2024, with a further 32,000 nurses currently working in the National Health Service, compared with September 2019. The Government has funded an additional 1,500 medical school places each year for domestic students in England, which was completed in September 2020 and delivered five new medical schools. The first graduates from this expansion entered foundation training in August 2022.

Health Education England has undertaken a three-year review of education and training, which is being implemented through the Dental Education Reform Programme. In July 2022, we announced measures to reform NHS dental services to increase access for patients and remunerate dentists fairly for caring for patients with complex needs. We are also working with NHS England and the sector on longer-term improvements to make NHS dentistry a more appealing place to work.

Emergency medical technician training is undertaken through an apprenticeship qualification whilst employed in an ambulance service trust. Some EMTs can progress to a registered paramedic through additional education programmes.

NHS England’s retention programme seeks to understand why staff leave and provide targeted interventions to support staff to stay, with each trust required to have in place retention action plans that will target support where needed locally. The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. The plan will consider the number of staff and the roles required and will set out the actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.

There are no current plans to do so. In years one to four of an undergraduate medical or dental course, domestic students can access student loans from Student Finance England. From year five of an undergraduate course and from year two of a graduate-entry course, eligible medical and dental students can access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees and, where eligible, further grants and allowances.

We have had regular engagement with the General Dental Council (GDC) in developing and consulting on legislative proposals to allow greater flexibility to amend its existing international registration processes and explore alternative registration pathways. The resulting draft order was laid in Parliament for debate on 11 October. Subject to Parliamentary approval, we aim to introduce the legislative changes later this year.

There are no current plans to increase the number of dental schools in Devon or Cornwall.

The Department is working with Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England to consider options to increase training capacity in areas of need, such as the centres for dental development as proposed in HEE’s ‘Advancing Dental Care Review’.

There is ongoing stakeholder engagement on contract reform, recruitment and retention. This includes discussions with the General Dental Council (GDC) on legislative proposals to allow greater flexibility to amend its existing international registration processes and explore alternative registration pathways to increase the availability of NHS dentists in England, including in the South East.

In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care in England, including in Slough and the South East. The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.

The information requested on patient attendance at practices, which dental practices are currently accepting new patients and the funding of National Health Service dental services is not held in the format requested. Patients are registered with a practice for the duration of a course of treatment and can receive care from any practice with available appointments.

Data on the additional £50 million provided for NHS dental services in 2021/22 is not held in the format requested. However, there was expenditure of £629,148 in the South West region. Analysis of data on this additional funding shows that activity was targeted at lower income patients and those with urgent needs, although expenditure by local authority is not held centrally.

While regional data on the number of dentists delivering NHS care since 2011 is collected, this data shows information at the former strategic health authority level and does not show information by the current regional structure. The GP Patient Survey Dental Statistics from January and March 2022 shows that 78% of respondents rated their NHS dental experience as positive. The Dental Access Centre in Devon receives an average of 7,000 urgent dental calls a month or approximately 350 calls per day. No central assessment of the level of cases of people conducting their own dentistry procedures in England has been made.

In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport.

The information requested on patient attendance at practices, which dental practices are currently accepting new patients and the funding of National Health Service dental services is not held in the format requested. Patients are registered with a practice for the duration of a course of treatment and can receive care from any practice with available appointments.

Data on the additional £50 million provided for NHS dental services in 2021/22 is not held in the format requested. However, there was expenditure of £629,148 in the South West region. Analysis of data on this additional funding shows that activity was targeted at lower income patients and those with urgent needs, although expenditure by local authority is not held centrally.

While regional data on the number of dentists delivering NHS care since 2011 is collected, this data shows information at the former strategic health authority level and does not show information by the current regional structure. The GP Patient Survey Dental Statistics from January and March 2022 shows that 78% of respondents rated their NHS dental experience as positive. The Dental Access Centre in Devon receives an average of 7,000 urgent dental calls a month or approximately 350 calls per day. No central assessment of the level of cases of people conducting their own dentistry procedures in England has been made.

In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport.

‘Our plan for patients’ aligns with the NHS Long Term Plan and the forthcoming workforce plan and includes the current work on improving the National Health Service dental system. Centres for Dental Development and dental schools are included in Health Education England’s ‘Advancing Dental Care’ report. ‘Our plan for patients’ does not include decisions regarding Centres for Dental Development or the commissioning of new dental schools nationally. Discussions regarding Centres for Dental Development are encouraged locally with integrated care boards.

This information is not held centrally.

There are no plans to promote the recruitment of dentists from overseas by the National Health Service.

The Government is currently making changes to the General Dental Council’s (GDC) international registration legislation which will allow the GDC greater flexibility to improve its existing international registration process and introduce alternative routes to registration for international applicants whilst maintaining its focus on robust public protection. We are aiming to introduce these changes by the end of 2022, subject to the Parliamentary process and time.

NHS England is able to use flexible commissioning to convert units of dental activity to activity which focuses on priority areas, such as improving access to urgent care or targeting high risk patient groups. On 29 March 2021, NHS England released a flexible commissioning toolkit for regional commissioners to provide good practice which can be implemented locally. NHS England is monitoring the use of these measures.