The Public Accounts Committee has published a damning verdict on the Dental Recovery Plan in their report on NHS dentistry published today (04 April 2025).
The report notes the comprehensive failure of the dental recovery plan to improve access and notes that “the most vulnerable patients continue to suffer the most from long-standing failures in the system”. A point made clear in evidence submitted by the LDC Confederation.
The Committee concluded that the modelling underpinning the dental recovery plan was flawed from the start and that “even if the plan had performed in line with expectations it was never actually ambitious enough to meet its stated aim of ensuring that everyone who needs to see an NHS dentist would be able to.”
The Committee agreed with evidence from the profession that “further tweaks to the existing contractual arrangements will not be enough”, and instead that contract reform is indeed necessary.
They report was clear that DHSC and the profession must work together to fully understand the cost of delivering NHS dental care and to develop short term and long term plans to prevent further decline.
The LDC Confederation looks forward to working with DHSC on improving the understanding of the cost of delivering NHS dental care.
The report makes several recommendations:
- DHSC and NHSE should set out in their Treasury Minute response what they believe a realistic timetable would be if a decision to replace the existing dental contract with a new one is taken by ministers. This should include how they will consult on reforms with stakeholders and the public.
- DHSC and NHSE should explain what steps can be taken to maintain patient access to dental services while a new contract is being negotiated.
- NHSE and DHSC should also set out what their vision is for improving preventative care and promoting good oral health, providing an update on any wider preventative oral healthcare work that NHSE and DHSC are considering to support oral health outcomes.
- DHSC and NHSE must publish their evaluation of the dental recovery plan and what was spent on it. They should write to the Committee as soon as is practical to confirm their final analysis of the plan’s performance in 2024–25, including details of:
- how many additional treatments the plan as a whole delivered;
- for each of the four main initiatives a breakdown of what they individually achieved;
- the final amount spent on each initiative; and
- how far the performance in the 2024–25 plan can be continued into 2025–26
- In their Treasury Minute response to this report DHSC and NHSE should set out how they are strengthening their own analytical capabilities in dentistry, and explain what will change in practice as a result of dentistry being designated as ‘business critical’.
- NHSE and DHSC must in their future plans for NHS dentistry:
- clearly articulate how they will improve on previous efforts to co–ordinate between central and local initiatives.
- explain how they intend to support ICBs to innovate within their commissioning powers, while holding them to account for improving dentistry in their areas.
- explain how they intend to support ICBs where, contrary to Government initiatives to expand access to dental treatment, practises may be experiencing a reduction in funding for 2025–26.
- DHSC and NHSE should commit in their Treasury Minute response to conducting and publishing analysis of the actual costs of providing NHS dental care as part of any future work on reforms to NHS dentistry, reflecting the full range of complexities of treatments that patients might need. This should include an explanation of how the current structure of payments to dentists, in terms of the range and complexity of treatment, has different impacts depending on the deprivation of the community served.
- DHSC must:
- publish its response to the consultation on a dental graduate “tie–in”; and
- set out what more the department and NHSE intend to do to address obstacles to attracting dental professionals to carry out NHS work and close the gap between it and private work. This response must include detail on what further work is planned on skills mix and ensuring that dental practices make best use of all members of the wider dental team. This should include an explanation of how all dental professional groups will be consulted on future reforms.
The House of Commons Committee began their inquiry on 15 January 2025 and put out a call for written evidence. Fourteen organisations responded, including the LDC Confederation. The Committee heard oral evidence from NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care on 13 February in a session lasting almost three hours. A full recording of the session is available here.
The Government has until 04 June 2025 to respond to the report.
The full report is available on the Parliament Website.
