Dental Services

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 26 November 2019.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 2:07, 26 November 2019

Of course, another challenge to the retention of dentists in Wales is the lack of support they're currently getting if they have stress-related illnesses. Now, this was highlighted by the British Dental Association. They've raised it as a significant issue amongst dentists that work in the NHS throughout the whole of the UK, not just in Wales.

Now, in England, the Department of Health and Social Care has recently announced that it's providing access for dentists to their comprehensive NHS practitioner health support programme, but according to the British Dental Association, there's currently no comparable support from the Welsh Government for mental health well-being here. I just wondered, First Minister, if you would consider that concern, because having trained a dentist, having recruited a dentist, we certainly want to hang on to them, and if lack of help when they're suffering from mental health or stress-related illnesses is one of the reasons that they're leaving dentistry in Wales, then there's something tangible we can do something about—or you can do something about.