“We understand how frustrating it can be for many to access NHS dental care. Like many regions, Somerset faces significant challenges in delivering NHS dental services, including funding constraints, workforce shortages, and dissatisfaction with the current dental contract.
“While we work to address these issues, we are prioritising children’s dental health through preventative programmes. These include supervised toothbrushing programmes in primary schools and early years settings, as well as supporting Somerset Council to deliver comprehensive oral health education to new parents via health visitors, ensuring families can support their children’s oral health from the earliest stages.
“For families in need of urgent care but without access to a regular dentist, we are strengthening pathways through NHS 111 to enable access to the care they need during emergencies.”
NHS Somerset is working with the South West Collaborative Commissioning Hub and Somerset Integrated Care System to implement our NHS Dental Recovery Plan, focused on:
- Expanding access to dental services
- Increased minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) value from £23 to £28 (e.g., 1 UDA for an examination, 12 for a crown).
- New patient premium: extra payment (£15 – £50) for seeing an adult or child who haven’t visited in two years, depending on the treatment required.
- Increasing capacity through NHS 111 to support patients with urgent dental needs to access treatment.
- Structured programmes to attempt to restore NHS dental services in priority areas that have lost activity.
- Developing new services targeted to support patients with greatest need or at greatest risk of dental illness.
- Increasing availability of orthodontic treatment in-year.
- Children’s prevention programmes
- Supervised toothbrushing programmes for 3 to 5 year olds, focused on some of our most deprived areas (IMD Deciles 1 to 6).
- Dental First Steps programme, run by Somerset council, offering advice, support and age-appropriate oral hygiene equipment (e.g. toothbrushes and toothpaste) to new parents.
- Workforce expansion
- Offering £20,000 “Golden Hello” to attract new dentists move to work in Somerset through the Dental Recruitment Incentive Scheme.
- Supporting the uptake of Level 4 Oral Health Practitioner apprenticeship at Yeovil College to enhance the skills of dental nurses, enabling them to take on expanded clinical roles.
- Working closely with the NHS England to expand dental training, increasing placements by 24% over the next 5 years.
- Working with other ICBs in South West to support international dental graduates (those trained overseas) be able to provide NHS treatment.
