6. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Dental Reform

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:57 pm on 14 March 2023.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:57, 14 March 2023

(Translated)

Now, the Minister refers to contractual changes, which were intended to enhance access to NHS services. She says that 140,000 new patients had been seen. On the face of it, of course, that sounds positive, but it's entirely clear that this is not sustainable. I was speaking yesterday to a dentist who is entirely committed to the NHS, who had succeeded in hitting that target and registered hundreds of new patients. But the process had been so onerous—and had placed so much strain on staff—and it still didn't provide them with the incentive to work in a preventative way, as they would want that they have decided to hand a third of their NHS contract back for next year, exacerbating the problem.

The Minister later says that few contracts have been handed back to the health service. That's one that the Minister isn't aware of. My constituency has lost one in three NHS dentists in a year. The Minister suggests, when that's happening, that there's no problem in having new providers, I can tell the Minister that Betsi Cadwaladr health board, and I will quote them—they are not confident that they can find new providers.

I will use all my time here. There is so much that I could be saying. The Minister constantly repeats that the answer is to see people less often, suggesting that the problem that we have is that people are opposing that. Now, I don't see any opposition to that. I see people who are more than happy to follow the new guidance and to see patients less often. The problem that we have is a lack of sustainability. There is hardly any talk here of training more dentists. We need that for sustainability. We need more private dentists to return to the NHS.