London Assembly Health Committee Dental Report

The London Assembly Health Committee has today published its final report on dental services in the capital: ‘Decay and delay: The state of dentistry and oral health in London’

Health Committee Dentistry
London Assembly Health Committee Dental Report 2

Dental care is the first topic covered by the Health Committee following the London elections in May 2024. The Committee held two evidence gathering days in July and September, put out a call for written evidence submissions and ran a public survey. The report echoes many of the priorities of the LDC Confederation, including the need for a proper needs assessment, reform of the dental contract and use of flexible commissioning in the interim. The report also highlights other barriers to care such as language, lack of registration and cost.

The report, based on several evidence gathering sessions and written submissions, makes 11 recommendations to the Mayor of London, the key ones being:

  • Recommendation 1: London’s Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) should carry out an assessment of oral health needs in their respective areas as soon as possible, to ensure that dental services are meeting the needs of local populations. These findings should be used to inform the commissioning of services within the current dental contract, but also to influence future contract reform. The Mayor should advocate for London’s ICBs to do this.
  • Recommendation 2: The current NHS dental contract is severely flawed and in need of reform. The Mayor should lobby the Government to start the process of dental contract reform as a matter of urgency, setting out how the current contract is not serving Londoners, with the aim of reforming the contract by the end of 2025. Any new dental contract must be properly funded to ensure that there is sufficient commissioned activity to meet the needs of the population.
  • Recommendation 3: The Mayor should convene London’s five ICBs to explore how they can use their new flexible commissioning powers to improve the provision of dentistry and oral health services in their respective areas. The Mayor’s convening power could be particularly valuable with respect to exploring good practice in offering outreach services to communities and demographic groups with poor oral health outcomes. This approach to commissioning should be informed by local assessments of oral health needs.
  • Recommendation 10: The Government should carry out a review to understand why poor oral health is so prevalent across the country, and develop an action plan to address this. 
  • Recommendation 11: The Mayor should carry out a review of the feasibility of fluoridating London’s water in 2025. He should submit the findings of this review to the Government, with a recommendation as to whether the Government should introduce fluoride into London’s water.

Dr Mike Clarke, Chair of the LDC Confederation, said: “This detailed and robust report clearly outlines the issues facing dental care in London in a balanced way with realistic and important recommendations. We look forward to working with the London Assembly, Mayor of London and other stakeholders on making these recommendations a reality.”

Dr Nikita Vora, North West London LDC Director for Brent, who provided oral evidence to the Health Committee said “It is gratifying to see the profession being heard and realistic but ambitious recommendations come out of this. It shows the importance of continued engagement with all stakeholders and how by working together we can drive the changes we need. Hopefully with more local working we can provide a robust evidence base to inform contract reform to make a real difference to the profession and patients.”

The official press release from the London Assembly is available here.