Damien Moore MP welcomes increased funding for NHS dentistry in Southport

Mr. Moore, who recently signed a Backbench Business Debate application on access to NHS dentistry, has welcome that dental patients in Southport are to benefit from access to more appointments thanks to a £50 million national government funding injection. 

The North West is to get £7,310,000 as part of the funding to secure up to 350,000 additional dental appointments across the country, allowing people suffering from oral pain, disease, and infection to get the care they need, as services drive back to pre-pandemic levels.

Children, along with people with learning disabilities, autism, or severe mental health problems, will be prioritised as part of a dentistry treatment push over the coming months, with the one-off funding available until the end of the financial year.

Locally, NHS teams will use the funds to secure increase care capacity amongst local dentists already operating to help patients suffering from oral ill-health.

Dentists involved in the scheme will be paid more than a third on top of their normal sessional fee for delivering this care outside of core hours, such as early morning and weekend work.

During the pandemic, the NHS has protected dentists’ income when strict infection prevention control guidance meant dentists needed to operate at severely reduced capacity.

Infection prevention control measures were significantly eased in November 2021, and since the start of this year, the NHS has required dental practices to operate at 85% of their pre-pandemic contracted activity, the latest stage in the return to pre-pandemic workloads for NHS dentists.

Damien Moore MP commented:

“'I welcome the news of an extra £7.3 million of capacity funding for dental practices in the North West.

“I understand the immense pressures that dental practices in Southport have faced throughout the Covid pandemic, and I very much hope that as we now move out of the restrictions, we can return to, or even exceed, pre-pandemic capacity levels. This means aiming to ensure that everyone who would like to register as an NHS patient at a dental practice can do so and can do so easily.

“I have been in regular contact with colleagues in NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care on this issue, and am glad that Southport will see increased funding and dental appointment availability as a result.”