Whole-system change is already under way in dentistry in Wales. We need clinical teams in health boards to collaboratively agree on what to deliver and how to measure excellence in primary care dentistry. New approaches to contracting with more meaningful measurement is already allowing patient need, practice-level quality, team workforce and access to be better understood. This is more than making a few tweaks with the contract. Dentists, dental care professionals, health boards and academics are working together to shape and deliver transformation in line with 'A Healthier Wales' by removing financial disincentives so dental teams can focus on prevention and make use of the skills of the whole team.

The dental reform programme is focused on quality, prevention and access. From this month, a further 36 practices are joining the existing 94 participating dental practices in contract reform. That represents about a third of all dental practices in Wales who are taking part. In contrast, in England, just over 1 per cent of dental practices are taking part in their contract reform programme. However, we want the pace of change to quicken even further so that more dental practices can work in new ways. I expect over half of all practices to be part of the reform programme by October 2020, leading to a full roll-out of contract reform in 2021. The broader set of monitoring measures and the removal of low-value UDAs under contract reform will help to reduce the need for health boards to recover funding from dental contractors. I have asked health boards to report on any resources recovered, and I expect them to provide year-round support to dental providers who experience difficulty in meeting targets.

We know recruitment and retention in the dental workforce causes difficulty in a number of areas of Wales. There is more to do to address the multifactorial issues involved. So, Health Education and Improvement Wales are looking at training numbers, ways to help develop the workforce, and are considering alternative workforce models to support delivery, enhance recruitment and incentivise retention following training. In addition, the All-Wales Faculty for Dental Care Professionals being established at Bangor University, which I expect to visit in the new year, will contribute to career opportunities for the dental care professional workforce.

The dental e-referral management system mentioned yesterday covers all dental specialties, including orthodontics, and has been successfully rolled out nationally. We are the first country in the UK to implement a fully electronic system for all dental referrals in all dental clinical specialties. That now means that the source, complexity, and volume of referrals for dental specialties will be known by health boards. And in turn, that supports evidence-informed workforce planning and paves the way to service redesign, with a shift out of secondary care for procedures that can, and should, be delivered within primary care. And, of course, a fortnight ago, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of Designed to Smile, our population child oral health improvement programme. This has made, and continues to make, a significant contribution to reducing dental disease levels, and we're committed to continuing our support for the programme.

There is, of course, more to be done. I'll happily respond again to the committee with a range of the points made that there isn't time to respond to today, however significant steps have already been taken in reforming dental services and improving the oral health for the most vulnerable members of our communities. I hope the clear programme of dental contract reform that I set out to be completed by 2021 will provide the assurance Members are plainly looking for. But I will continue to keep Members updated on our progress in addressing all of the recommendations made in the report.