Thousands more emergency dental appointments to be made available in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes NHS health area
Thousands of patients in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes will soon enjoygreater access to urgent and emergency NHS dental care, following a Government announcement.
Over 6,000 extra appointments will be available locally from April 2025, as part of a total of 700,000 to be provided across England. Each area has a target of urgent appointments to roll out, based on estimated local levels of unmet need for unscheduled and emergency NHS dental care.
Nicky Poulain, chief primary care officer at Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said: “Dentists are working hard to help as many patients as possible but we know that too many people find it difficult to access NHS dental services.
“These extra appointments will be for patients who are likely to be in pain – including those suffering from infections or requiring urgent treatment. We are already starting work on securing these extra appointments, so that they can be available for patients from April.
“Patients will be able to access these appointments by contacting their usual dental practice or calling NHS 111 if they do not have a regular dentist or need help out of hours.”
The local area has also recruited seven new dentists through the NHS’s Dental Recruitment Incentive Scheme, which encourages dentists to carry out NHS work in areas of the country which have experienced a shortage of appointments. Three full- time and two part-time dentists are already in post in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, with two more awaiting start dates.
The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board is responsible for planning the delivery of health care for a population of one million people across four diverse local authority areas – Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.
A spokesperson said: Our aim is simple. We want everyone who lives in our city, towns, villages and communities to live a longer, healthier life... Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes support two million jobs locally and we are one of the fastest growing economies in England, contributing £110bn to the UK economy.”
You can read more on the BLMK website here.