East Yorkshire MP Sir Greg Knight is urging the Government to boost NHS dentistry locally and he is backing a campaign for a new NHS Dental School at the University of Hull, as part of the Hull and York Medical School, which would cover Hull, York and the East Riding.
Sir Greg has met the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, Neil O’Brien MP, to discuss the issue, along with other MPs from the region to jointly press the case for a local dental training school.
Sir Greg said the Minister accepted there was a need to increase NHS dentists locally. The Minister revealed that he was looking at several options to boost dental provision across the Hull, York and East Riding areas, with a decision expected to be made this summer (2023).
Sir Greg said ‘if we train dentists locally then there is a good chance they will stay in the area to serve the local community in which they are based when they qualify, and the Minister accepted the argument that it would assist with local recruitment.’
Sir Greg has asked the minister to undertake a review into what more needs to be done to boost the number of NHS dentists across the region.
