Debate contribution: NHS Dentistry: North Belfast

Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on 14 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Brian Kingston

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

14 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

NHS Dentistry: North Belfast

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5482967

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank my North Belfast colleague, Phillip Brett, for tabling the Adjournment debate on the lack of NHS dental places in our constituency. The situation in North Belfast is, of course, part of a wider trend across Northern Ireland and, indeed, the United Kingdom. However, it is worst here. All the statistics reveal a steep decline in NHS dentistry. The prognosis for NHS dental care in North Belfast and across Northern Ireland is deeply concerning. It is one of continuing decline that will need significant intervention to reverse. This week, my office staff contacted a number of dental practices in North Belfast. Of those they spoke to, all had closed their books to new NHS patients. In one case, that was due to the so-called NHS dentist leaving. In all cases, the surgeries were not able to accommodate the large volume of NHS patient requests, so they had a blanket refusal. All said that the financial payment for NHS dentistry was insufficient to cover all the actual costs, as others have pointed out, and, obviously, private dental work gives them a better and more sustainable financial return. A number of surgeries have also stopped taking on new private patients as they are at full capacity and cannot cope with any more. Statistics from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and the British Dental Association show that patient registrations for dental services in Northern Ireland have been falling at an alarming rate over the past three years, with over 389,000 fewer registered patients in Northern Ireland now compared with early 2023. That is a drop of around 28% in three years. The fall in dental activity is even starker. The number of NHS dental treatments delivered in Northern Ireland in December 2025 was 40% lower than in December 2018. The BDA says that that collapse is due to the NHS payment system across the UK being insufficient to meet the cost of providing a modern dental service, meaning that practices prioritise private dental care. Those who seek NHS dentistry find themselves with literally nowhere to go, and the consequences are pain, poor dental health and debt. The BDA says that a record number of dentists — 47,901 — are registered to practice in the United Kingdom. That number has increased by 17% over the past decade to an all-time high, yet a record number of people are unable to get on a dental register. The BDA reports that the proportion of time that dentists spend working on NHS dentistry is falling more rapidly in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK, falling here from 46% in 2024 to 43% in 2025 and just 39% in 2026. It is clear that something is fundamentally wrong. The BDA says that there is a:

"mismatch between fees paid by the government, and the true cost of providing modern dental care".

That widening gap has destabilised the entire dental system. We are told that the proportion of the UK's health budget that is spent on dentistry is the smallest of any European nation and that Northern Ireland invests less in NHS dental services per head of population than the other parts of the United Kingdom. In 2023-24, government spend on NHS dentistry per capita was £52 in Northern Ireland compared with £56 in Wales and £67 in Scotland. I welcome the fact that the Minister has taken the time to attend the debate. Last year, he commissioned the general dental services to carry out a cost-of-service review, led by Professor Ciaran O'Neill. I understand that the review has now reported to the Minister, and I would welcome the Minister's reporting on and giving us an insight into the conclusions and recommendations of that review, which surely will be key to reversing the current decline in NHS dentistry in North Belfast and across Northern Ireland.

643 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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