Written question WQ94632

Officials have been engaged in negotiations with the NHS and the dental profession’s representatives for more than 12 months to develop a new contract for General Dental Services (GDS) in Wales. We hope to be able to implement a substantive GDS contract from April 2026. Concluding this process is the most important step we can take to ensure the provision of NHS dental services is attractive to the profession and fair for patients.

NHS dental practices are taking on new patients in North Wales as a result of the dental reform programme we have been running. Practices have been offered a variation to their existing contract, which includes the requirement to provide treatment to new patients. Ninety-four per cent of commissioned dental activity in North Wales is now operating under reform arrangements and since April 2022 more than 384,000 new patients have gained access to an NHS dentist across Wales, including 73,000 new patients in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area.

The Welsh Government has encouraged the health board to complete a tender exercise which awarded around £1.5m across three contracts in May 2024. This will result in additional activity at five practices, including one in Caernarfon. A further tender exercise closed on 7 October 2024 and consideration will be given to all qualifying bids and preference will be given to award funding to practices within priority areas, which includes Arfon.

Workforce is a key part of improving access to NHS dental care and we are looking to identify and establish innovative opportunities to upskill and improve career pathways in dentistry to make working in Wales more attractive. Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is focusing on recruitment and retention of the dental workforce in Wales.

It has developed a scheme to encourage dental trainees to work in rural dental practices. The Welsh Enhanced Recruitment Offer (WERO) incentivises dental trainees to undertake their foundation year in dental practices across rural Wales and it has just started its second year.

Skill mix is important for the delivery of NHS dental services. Ensuring that the GDS contract supports the entire dental team through enabling skill enhancement, professional development and fair renumeration will make NHS dentistry an exciting and challenging career and support wider recruitment.

We have also increased the number of training places available for both dental hygiene and dental therapy in recent years, including the establishment of the dental hygiene programme at Bangor University.