To ask the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dentists in South Belfast.

The commissioning of General Dental Services is undertaken on a regional basis, rather than within HSC Trust boundaries.

The absence of Executive Ministers had meant that it had not been possible to progress the recommended pay uplifts for staffing groups for 2023/24. In March 2024, a 6% pay uplift for General Dental Services for 2023/24, in line with recommendations contained in the 51st Doctors and Dentists Review Board report, was announced. This uplift comes with a 7.3% uplift to non-staff expenses for 2023/24, with a 3% recurrent award in future years. Practices in South Belfast will benefit from this additional investment.

In March 2024 the Department also announced a £9.2m investment package for General Dental Services to include:

£1m for newly registered child patients through the reestablishment of the Enhanced Child Examination Scheme. This scheme provides children aged 0-10 who have not been registered with a dentist with an examination, individualised oral health advice and age-specific fluoride application to teeth to assist with preventing dental decay;

£4.3m to fund a 30% enhancement to fees paid to dentists for health service fillings, extractions and root canal treatment for 2024/25, to support public access to priority treatments; and

£3.9m for the treatment of high priority unregistered patients through a Dental Access Scheme.

Practices in South Belfast will benefit from all three of these new funding streams.

Until the Dental Access Scheme is implemented, a pilot scheme will continue to run to provide appointments to unregistered patients who require emergency dental treatment during the working week. If a patient is not registered with a dentist, requires emergency dental treatment, and has been unable to access an appointment, they can contact their local Strategic Planning and Performance Group office for advice.