Health Select Committee to investigate NHS dentistry
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- Published: Monday, 05 August 2019 07:44
- Written by News Editor
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Sarah Woolaston MP who chairs the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has launched an inquiry into NHS dental services. The Committee has invited evidence from the public, organisations and others with relevant expertise. Submissions don’t need to address all the areas covered in the terms of reference to be accepted. The deadline for submissions is Friday 13 September 2019.
The Committee explains: ‘Dentistry has been a part of the NHS since its inception in 1948. In 1951, charges for dentures, the first charges of any kind for NHS treatment, were introduced. Other charges were later introduced for dental services. Previous governments have acknowledged that the focus of NHS dentistry has been too focused on treatment rather than prevention. The Government is currently testing prototypes for a new dental contract with an emphasis on prevention.’
The Committee will be considering the following:
- What is the state of the relationship between the NHS and dentistry? How satisfactory are the arrangements for the provision of dental services by the NHS? Are current arrangements contributing to the widening of health inequality?
- How could access to NHS dentistry be improved? Are there inequalities in access to dentistry services? If so, why, and what could be done to address them?
- Where does dentistry fit within NHS primary care services? What opportunities are presented by the development of primary care networks?
- What issues are affecting the wider dental workforce? What steps need to be taken to address them? Is sufficient data available on the workforce and if not how should it be improved?
- What are the issues in commissioning and payment systems for NHS dental services? How can they be improved?
- What needs to be included in, or removed from, the forthcoming NHS dental contract?
- Is there enough focus on prevention in dentistry and what are the avoidable harms that could be addressed? What more can be done to encourage prevention and what can be learnt from best practice in other parts of the UK and EU?
- What should be done around fluoridation policy and what is the evidence base to support it?
Submit your evidence using an online portal
Each submission should:
- be no more than 4,000 words in length
- be in Word format with as little use of colour or logos as possible
- have numbered paragraphs
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