Dental plans aim to increase appointments for patients in the North East and North Cumbria

 

 

Plans to improve access to NHS dentist appointments have been approved by the NHS in North East and North Cumbria.  

 

At its Board meeting this week, the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) launched its Oral Health and Dental Strategy with ambitious plans to:  

 

  • Improve access to routine dental care, like check-ups 

  • Increase the number of urgent care appointments 

  • Tackle dental workforce recruitment and retention issues 

  • Focus on preventing poor oral health  

 

The ICB will work closely with partners, including councils' public health teams, to reduce oral health inequalities and prevent dental disease by:  

 

  • Offering more than 1,000 extra out-of-hours dental appointments per year 

  • Supporting community dental services to give vulnerable people care closer to home 

  • Providing an additional 109,000 urgent care appointments every year  

  • Launching a network of Urgent Dental Access Centres  

  • Working with partners to support people to look after their gums and teeth 

  • Supporting NHS 111 to deal with dental calls by expanding the Dental Clinical Assessment Services (DCAS) workforce  

  • Reducing waiting times for specialist minor oral surgery and orthodontic services  

  • Working with partners on education and training schemes that keep our dental workforce engaged and skilled 

  • Investing in local NHS dental services by targeting funds and support to the most deprived communities 

 

Dave Gallagher, Chief Contracting and Procurement Officer, at the ICB, said: "Improving access to NHS dentistry is a key priority for the ICB. We've listened to feedback from patients and our partners and heard of the challenges that people are facing in accessing an appointment with their dentist.  

 

"We also know how challenging it is for our workforce and want to support them to continue providing local NHS dental services.  

 

"This strategy pulls together a number of initiatives we are working on with partners into one place, and is fully focused on protecting and growing NHS dentistry by supporting our fantastic dental teams and helping patients get the care they need." 

 

The Oral Health and Dental Strategy 2025-27 is available at: https://northeastnorthcumbria.nhs.uk/our-work/oral-health-and-dental-strategy