Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board has this week announced a new dentistry contract which will provide an additional 18,000 hours of NHS only dental appointments for local people each year and also increase and upskill the local dental workforce.
Therese said: "Putting dentistry into the hands of the local NHS was undoubtedly the right thing to do – and I warmly welcome the action the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board has taken. Providing an additional 18,000 hours of NHS-only appointments per year in ten new units at the University of Suffolk is a great first step. The new teaching environment for students will also help attract more dental practitioners, boosted by the government’s Long Term NHS Workforce Plan."
"The ICB now has the ability to tailor what is needed locally. Just as happens to recruit more GPs to rural areas, I hope they will also consider a package of financial support to incentivise dentists to either relocate or to extend the existing provision, continuing to boost capacity, especially in rural Suffolk."
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