Dental health is a crucial part of NHS services and, as part of my continuing efforts to shine a light on the very real challenges currently facing the sector and work with partners to try and bring about better service for patients here in Mid Norfolk, I was delighted to meet with the East of England team at NHS England and NHS Improvement recently.

David Barter, Head of Commissioning, and his team talked through some of the work they are doing to try and assist NHS dental providers here in Mid Norfolk as they look to tackle the post-pandemic backlog and address longer-term challenges.

I also took the opportunity to find out what more I should be raising with ministers and officials at the Department of Health and Social Care, and I will be writing to the minister specifically responsible for dental care, Maria Caufield MP, to share that information in the coming days.

I am also adding my voice to the calls for a Dental School to be created at UEA so as to ensure that we actually train dentists locally – an approach that should make it easier to attract and retain dentists in our area, as well as improve specialisation in various dental fields.

To stay up to date with all my work on this issue, please visit my website here.