James successfully secured a new practice in Lynn which has led to thousands of NHS appointments but more needs to be done. James will hold the NHS to account to improve access, and backs incentive payments for dentists to work in rural areas and take on new patients, dental vans for coastal areas, and a new dental training school locally.
Issue
Access to NHS dentists in North West Norfolk is a long-running issue with our community having one of the lowest number of dentist per population. Improving access to dentists is an issue that James has campaigned on since his election. He successfully campaigned for a new practice in Lynn which as delivered thousands of NHS appointments since it opened in July 2022. But more needs to be done.
Government reforms launched in February 2024 will help deliver improved access by focusing on coastal and rural areas with a new patient bonus, dental vans for Norfolk, £20,000 incentive payments, and other measures.
However, James continues to press the NHS which is responsible for commissioning services to improve services further, including better access to emergency appointments. We also need to be training more dentists which is why James has been working alongside fellow Norfolk MPs to highlight the importance of securing a new undergraduate training School of Dentistry at the University of East Anglia (UEA) as well as new training at CWA for dental hygienist and other roles.
Details of new practice in King's Lynn
King’s Lynn, 115 – 117 High Street, King’s Lynn, PE30 1DD [email protected]
Smile Care is not currently accepting new NHS patients although emergency appointments are available if you contact them with details, appointments will be triaged.
Updates
February 2024
The government has published a series of reforms to help tackle short term issues around access to dentists, longer term changes, and plans to boost training of dentists and other roles.
October 2024
Norfolk and Waveney NHS has launched its short term plan focused on addressing the most urgent priorities in dental provision and look at how access to services for patients can be improved. A longer term plan is under development by the ICB.
July 2023
James and MPs across Norfolk and Waveney met with the NHS Integrated Care Board to raise concerns over access to emergency appointments in particular. The NHS is putting in place new trial measures to improve access to emergency appointments including changing how appointments are made and the link to NHS 111.
October 2022
James met with the NHS team responsible for commissioning dental services in North West Norfolk this week to review the latest situation regarding access to dental services.
Through working with the NHS, two contracts were successfully awarded earlier this year leading to the opening of the Smile Dentalcare practice in the High Street in Lynn and during the meeting the following updates were provided:
- There was strong demand when the practice opened in July and since then.
- More than 1000 patient appointments have been booked, averaging around 500 a month, in this initial phase as they build up capacity.
- Due to the high demand I raised constituents' frustration at not being able to get appointments.
- However, while 70 per cent of booked appointments were delivered, there have been a high number of missed appointments which could have been taken by other patients.
- By improving attendance at appointments, or cancelling them if the slot no longer works, more people will be able to get treatment
- The service is increasing between now and the end of the year and the practice expects more capacity to be available from the start of 2023.
James is in regular contact with the local NHS Commissioning Team who are looking at how they can expand and invest more into dental access, he is encouraging more use of dental therapists and hygienists to deliver treatment, as well as working with other MPs on potential dentistry training options in Norfolk.
February 2022
- The NHS East of England announced that it had successfully completed a procurement process and awarded two new dental contracts for King’s Lynn to Smile Care Norfolk Limited. The award of the two contracts follows a procurement process James campaigned for to increase dental provision in King’s Lynn and in other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. Two of the lots in the procurement exercise were for King’s Lynn and this will see services delivered at premises accessible to serve the main population densities and located near good public transport links and road networks.
These contracts will commence from 1 July 2022 which will significantly increase access to local dentist provision. These dental services will provide new services for adults and children for routine treatment, as well as urgent appointments.
Commenting on the announcement James said:
“Improving access to dentists in West Norfolk is an issue I have been campaigning for over the last two years. In my regular meetings with the NHS I have repeatedly pressed then to increase provision. So I am delighted that the procurement process has been successful and King’s Lynn will have new dentists offering many more appointments for local people.”
Both the lots are for nearly 22,000 Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) a year. UDAs are a measure of the amount of work done during dental treatment. More complex dental treatments count for more UDAs than simpler ones. For example, an examination is 1 UDA, fillings are 3 UDAs, and dentures are 12 UDAs.
In his Maiden Speech, James commented that "more than one constituent looking to find an NHS dentist has commented to me on the absurdity of the advice on the NHS website, recommending that they go to Skegness as the nearest practice. Flying across the Wash may be practical for the migrating pink-footed geese that are a great sight in the big skies of Norfolk, but it is not very practical advice for my constituents, so dental provision is an issue that I will be working on in this Parliament."
Seeing a dentist
- Anyone who requires urgent dental care and is not registered at a dental practice or needs to see a dentist out of hours, should call NHS 111.
- Only go to A&E in serious circumstances, such as: severe pain, heavy pain & injuries to the fade, mouth or teeth. Anyone not sure whether they need to go to A&E, contact NHS 111, who will be able to advise.
- If after contacting several dental surgeries anyone cannot find a dentist accepting NHS patients, call NHS England's Customer Contact Centre on 0300 311 2233.
