Councillor Aspinall (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care) introduced the Dental Care report and discussed:

a)     The update focused on progress made in addressing Plymouth’s longstanding challenges around NHS dental access and oral health inequalities;

b)    The Dental Task Force had been established in 2023 and had brought together partners across the system to improve outcomes for residents;

c)     Progress had been made against the Task Force’s three original priorities;

d)    The new Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE) City Centre dental facility had opened earlier in the month and was now providing urgent stabilisation care for people who would otherwise struggle to access treatment;

e)     The opening of the City Centre facility represented a significant milestone for Plymouth and helped to ease pressure on urgent and emergency services;

f)      Substantial investment from NHS Devon had been secured to expand prevention programmes;

g)     Supervised toothbrushing and oral health education programmes were now reaching thousands of Plymouth children, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. These prevention programmes were critical to reducing inequalities and improving long?term oral health outcomes;

h)    Members were encouraged to visit primary schools in their wards to observe supervised toothbrushing schemes in operation;

i)      A dedicated dental pathway for people experiencing homelessness was now operating, with further expansion agreed to meet increasing need. This pathway formed an important part of improving access for high?priority groups;

j)      Despite strong progress, challenges remained, and the Dental Task Force had agreed two new priorities for 2026: improving access for children not currently seeing a dentist, and strengthening the local oral health workforce to ensure sustainability and capacity;

k)     Ongoing focus would continue on vulnerable adults, including older people receiving care and individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage.

In response to questions from the Panel, additional clarifications were provided by Peter Collins (Chief Medical Officer, NHS Devon) and Melissa Redmayne (Dental Commissioner, NHS Devon ICB):

l)      Continued gaps in NHS dental provision across both the north and south of the city, with concerns raised about travel costs, accessibility, and the impact of the cost?of?living crisis on families;

m)   Workforce shortages and the limitations of current national dental contracts, which did not adequately incentivise NHS provision;

n)    The limited uptake of the national “golden hello” incentive scheme for dentists and the need to explore alternative or enhanced retention?based incentives;

o)    Challenges in increasing local dental training capacity, including confirmation that proposals to expand dentist training places in Plymouth would not proceed;

p)    The importance of encouraging newly trained dentists to remain in Plymouth, including through postgraduate opportunities and local training placements;

q)    Recruitment and retention issues linked to end?stage training placements, with evidence showing dentists tended to settle where they completed training;

r)     Barriers faced by internationally trained dentists, particularly delays associated with national registration processes;

s)     The suggestion of reframing recruitment incentives as a “golden stay” model, linking financial support to a period of NHS service;

t)     Clarification that traditional dental “waiting lists” no longer operated in the same way as GP lists, due to inaccuracies and changes in patient behaviour;

u)    Progress with the golden hello scheme, including confirmation that £327,000 had been invested to date, with further work underway to identify funding that could be reinvested where recruitment had not resulted in appointments;

v)     The role of the Devon Dental Workforce Group in exploring further incentives and promotional activity, including attendance at national dental recruitment events;

w)   Concerns regarding access to dental care for service leavers from the Armed Forces, particularly during the transition period;

x)    The potential role of outsourcing limited NHS dental activity, such as routine check?ups, to alleviate pressure, noting existing but limited arrangements through emergency dental services;

y)     The Panel recognised the progress made since the establishment of the Dental Task Force, including a reduction in hospital tooth extractions among children, while acknowledging that sustained effort and further system?wide action remained necessary.

The Panel agreed:

1.     To note the Dental Care Update and the progress of the Plymouth Dental Task Force.