1. What is the Welsh Government doing to ensure sufficient provision of NHS dental services in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr? OQ59048

Thank you. Hywel Dda University Health Board is responsible for the provision of dental services in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. Currently, 92 per cent of NHS dental contract funding in the health board is going to practices that work under the contract reform variation. This means that nearly 12,000 new patients have been seen across the health board during the first nine months of this financial year.

Thank you for that response, Minister. This is an issue that we've discussed on a number of occasions, and has been the subject of correspondence between us too. I must emphasise the gravity of this problem, as thousands of people in the Ammanford area particularly are reliant on a service that had been provided by the Margaret Street dentist there. I raised this issue with you in November of last year, and, in fairness to you, Minister, you did provide a positive response before Christmas, telling me that the health board was recommissioning dental services in the area, and that the new service was expected to be established this month. Unfortunately, the message that I've received from a number of constituents is that there's been no communication with them and that the service hasn't commenced as we enter February tomorrow. So, can you now give us an assurance and give my constituents an assurance that this new service will be coming as soon as possible?

Well, I'm pleased to say that the health board has been successful in providing a new contract to a new practice for Ammanford. One of the problems there has been is that the premises there were not functional, and that has caused a problem. It's going to take some time to ensure that the premises are fit for the treatment of people. So, that won't be ready until September. But what will happen is that there will be a mobile dental unit and hub available, and there will be urgent care available from February onwards.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

It's, of course, incredibly difficult to ensure that the Government can plan efficiently, in terms of capacity for dental care in Wales, if the Government or health boards don't know how many people are waiting for an NHS appointment. I know you would agree with that position, Minister. It's also unacceptable, of course, that people, once they're on a waiting list, could be waiting up to 26 months before getting an appointment as well. So, I wonder, Minister, will you explore the options for a centralised waiting list for Wales? I appreciate that would take some time to put in place, so, as an interim measure, would you also explore ensuring that every health board establishes a centralised waiting list for its area? And if you do agree with that, when do you think that could be in place?  

Thanks very much. Well, I know for a fact that quite a lot of work has already gone into developing a remit that would be needed in order to commission that centralised waiting list. We are, as you know, under very severe financial pressure at the moment, so, although that work is now ready to go, we are financially constrained in terms of whether we can go any further. So, that is a difficult situation for us. Obviously, we're keen to move on with that as soon as we get that additional money, but it's very difficult under the current financial circumstances. What I will say, in particular to the Member who is also chair of the committee, is that, actually, so many of the recommendations in the work that they've been doing recently have been extremely useful to us and, certainly, that centralised waiting list is something we're taking very seriously.