Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:08 pm on 14 March 2023.
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I’m afraid the content of your statement doesn’t correspond in the very least with what I hear from patients and dentists in the Arfon constituency. According to a survey of dentists across the north of Wales, 88 per cent believe that they don’t have the capacity to see the new patients expected under the new contract. Ninety-six per cent say that the patients that they already have give negative feedback and complain about the lack of access to dental care. It appears to me that dentists are drowning in the workload that they face as a result of targets that cannot be met. Can I ask you therefore whether the new contracts set far too high an ambition for dentists? And you say that you will be having discussions on contracts for 2024-25 and onwards from then, but, as a result of all of the concerns that we do hear about, will you make a commitment this afternoon to review these contracts without delay, please?