EXCLUSIVE: Number of NHS dentists in Norfolk hits five year low
Over 511,000 NHS treatments were completed last year in the county
Figures seen by us show that the number of NHS dentists in Norfolk has hit a five year low - with just 329 practitioners still working in the county as of last year.
National workforce data given to us by Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System shows that 42 people left the profession between 2023 and 2024, with 33 joining over this period.
"That's something that doesn't make NHS dentistry an attractive industry to be in"
Dr Andy Bell works in Gorleston and is also Vice-Chair of the Norfolk Local Dental Committee: "All this means that more and more patients are being given to fewer dentists, who have to soak up the workload and do more with the same amount of time.
"We could lose NHS dentistry here.
"We were promised a lot by the Labour Government, but we need a new dental contract and a fully funded sector - one that means dentists are fairly paid for the work they do, that goes beyond tweaks to the existing restrictions.
"Clinically within the contract, it's very limited. You are given a certain amount of activity and that's it. Beyond that, if you do three or twenty fillings you are getting paid exactly.
"That's something that doesn't make NHS dentistry an attractive industry to be in."
The figures in full:
What else do the numbers show us?
A Freedom of Information Request submitted by us also found that the amount of treatment carried out by NHS dentists in Norfolk hit it's highest level last year since 2019.
Over 511 thousand appointments were completed last year in the county.
That's over 200 thousand more than what was carried out in 2020 and 104 thousand up on 2021's total figures.
Courses of Treatments carried out each year per treatment Band:
2024
Band 1 – 326,080
Band 2 - 204
Band 2a – 86,559
Band 2b – 29,192
Band 2c – 1,597
Band 3 – 15,778
Band 4 – 51,911
Total: 511,321
2023
Band 1 – 305,885
Band 2 – 6,257
Band 2a – 86,744
Band 2b – 27,302
Band 2c – 1,474
Band 3 – 18,359
Band 4 – 50,035
Total: 468,754
2022
Band 1 – 275,180
Band 2 – 131,700
Band 2a – 3,680
Band 2b – 900
Band 2c - 58
Band 3 – 22,255
Band 4 – 62,462
Total: 496,235
2021
Band 1 – 203,555
Band 2 – 114,935
Band 3 – 20,219
Band 4 – 68,631
Total: 407,340
2020
Band 1 – 156,649
Band 2 – 67,944
Band 3 – 11,500
Band 4 – 69,974
Total: 306,067
2019 (Apr – Dec data)
Band 1 – 338,064
Band 2 – 126,869
Band 3 – 20,750
Band 4 – 54,922
Total: 540,605
What's the Government said on this?
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
“This government is committed to rebuilding NHS dentistry, but it will take time.
“We are starting with an extra 700,000 urgent dentistry appointments to help those who need it most and golden hellos to recruit dentists to the areas in greatest need.
“We will also reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.”
Background
DHSC will also introduce supervised tooth brushing for three-to-five year-olds in the most deprived communities.
We will set out further details on allocation of funding for dentistry for the coming year in due course.
A central and core part of the 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS will be our workforce, and how we ensure we train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade.
If required to deliver our workforce ambitions, we will work with partners to explore the creation of new dental schools in currently under-served parts of the country.
We encourage prospective dental schools to approach the General Dental Council. They will also need to have “dental authority” status from the Privy Council.
Provided a prospective dental school meets the requirements of the GDC and the Office for Students, it would be considered for future government-funded training places.