One of the top issues in my in-tray over recent weeks and months continues to be NHS dentistry and the inability of so many in our area to get an appointment, even in cases of urgent care.

That’s why, as part of my continuing efforts to speak up on behalf of Mid Norfolk (and Norfolk) and ensure our local concerns about NNHS dentistry are being heard at the highest level, I very much welcomed the recent debate that my fellow East Anglian MPs organised in the House – along with their recent questions in PMQs.

I was pleased to hear the important contributions being made by my fellow Norfolk and Waveney parliamentary colleagues – Richard Bacon MP (who secured the debate), Jerome Mayhew MP, and Peter Aldous MP. They once again highlighted to ministers and civil servants the funding disparities faced in Norfolk (when compared with average dental funding across the country) and the need for further measures to be brought in quickly to aide Norfolk dental care.

I therefore welcomed Minister O’Brien‘s response, confirming plans for a Centre for Dental Development in Ipswich are advancing, with further plans emerging elsewhere, including here in Norfolk. It is also expected that further measures, most notably a Plan clearly setting out additional changes aimed at securing a longer-term solution to Norfolk (and UK) NHS dentistry, will be announced before the Summer Recess.

Although, as a Minister, I was prohibited from speaking on those occasions due to ministerial ‘collective responsibility’, I remain firmly committed to driving forward this collective Norfolk campaign on NHS dentistry.

I am in regular contact with parliamentary colleagues and commend the work being done by the likes of Duncan Baker MP (in addition to those named above) too, and am also in regular contact with ministers and officials at the Department for Health and Social Care too, as well as key figures at both NHS England and Norfolk and Waveney NHS Integrated Care Board (who recently took on the commissioning of NHS dentistry in Norfolk from NHS England, and who are already utilising local leadership to try and drive forward local improvements – find out more here).

Further information is expected to be released by the ICB soon. I will however continue to make the case for Norfolk dentistry and work with my fellow colleagues (here in Norfolk, but further afield too) in order to find a solution that delivers for our local communities – emphasising again our collective belief that a new, local NHS Dental School in Norfolk is required.

I am determined to do al I can try and bring about the improvements we simply MUST see.

To stay up to date with all my work on this issue, please check for updates on my ‘NHS Dentistry’ campaign page here