Oral QuestionDepartment of Health and Social Care

“Whether his Department plans to take further steps to tackle the shortage of NHS dentists.”

Tabled: 31 March 2022Answered: 19 April 2022

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Answer from Hansard

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)

I am pleased to report that both access to general practice and patient satisfaction with general practice have improved since Labour came to office. Over 75% of patients find it easy to contact their practice —an improvement of 14 percentage points since the general election. Not only have we recruited an extra 2,500 GPs; crucially, more patients are receiving continuity of care, backed by an additional £1.1 billion. Lots done, lots to do, and certainly a long way to go, but general practice is on the road to recovery.