BBC News has reported that dentists could be offered “financial incentives” to relocate to parts of north Northumberland in an effort to increase capacity.
Since the pandemic, two NHS dental practices in Berwick-upon-Tweed have closed. As a result, pressure has been mounting on the remaining practices.
The NHS has pinpointed the north of Northumberland as a “priority area”. The services has been using recruitment and retention initiatives aimed at “incentivising dentists to come to work in the area".
The BBC received information from the Local Democracy Reporting Service that one of the initiatives the NHS are using is a "financial incentive".
Pauline Fletcher, NHS England dental commissioning lead for the North East and Cumbria said, “Dental practices are open and operating normally; however, due to the pandemic and the delay in terms of access there's extremely significant demand, and demand for patients with high dental need.
"It is more challenging in some of the rural communities. We have lost two contracts in Berwick since the pandemic. We have engaged with the market to try and find a provider but the interest has been disappointing.
"We do still want to replace the contract, but we will have to look at what that might look like."