Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 3 November 2021.
Thank you, Minister. Access to NHS dentistry has been a perennial problem, and the last 18 months has only exacerbated the problem due to COVID. Like many colleagues, it is an issue that I receive a regular amount of casework on, and it is an issue that causes a great deal of frustration and concern for many of my constituents. Like everything, to better understand how to tackle a problem, we need to have a greater understanding of it. Therefore, I was concerned to learn that the Welsh Government have no current method of ascertaining exactly how many people require dentistry treatment. Without this detailed information as to what type of appointments are needed, it is very difficult to make provisions to adequately address this problem. Will you set out what actions your Government are taking to better map the needs of dental patients throughout Wales, and what provisions do you have in place to recruit more dentists? Diolch.