NHS Dental Services in Arfon

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 13 July 2022.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 2:31, 13 July 2022

Thanks very much. I'm spending a heck of a lot of time on this, I've got to tell you. We have a new chief dental officer, and I think he's really trying to grasp the situation, and he understands the severity of the situation. It's not a situation that's unique to Wales, it's an issue that is a challenge across the whole of the United Kingdom. We are actually further ahead than they are in England in terms of the new contract and we hope that that will provide 112,000 new opportunities for patient access, and I think that will be significant. In north Wales, in terms of the contract, 96 per cent of the practices have signed up to that new contract. So, it will be a change in the way that dentists approach this issue, but we do hope that that will make a difference. And, of course, we're really focused now also on training up more dental therapists and that's what the Bangor academy is all about.