NHS Confederation responds to changes to urgent dental care

Responding to the government announcement on changes to urgent dental care, Ruth Rankine, director of primary care at the NHS Confederation, said:

“Dentists and their teams will welcome the government’s recognition that NHS dentistry needs reform and that patients with the greatest needs must be prioritised. These proposals move in the right direction”.

“Our dentistry members are clear that restoring access at scale will require more than adjustments to the existing contract. Without expanding capacity, enabling multidisciplinary teams, and shifting from activity-based incentives to prevention- and time-based care, the system risks managing scarcity rather than fixing it.”

“This is a necessary step, but it must be followed by deeper, structural reform of the dental contract if patients are to see real and lasting improvement.”