James Evans MS has said he is deeply disappointed that the Welsh Government has confirmed it will press ahead with a new General Dental Services (GDS) contract from 2026, despite widespread concerns from patients, dentists, and opposition parties.
The Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Miles MS has described the reforms as “the most significant change in two decades”, designed to put prevention at the heart of care. But James warned that words alone will not fix the crisis, with families already struggling to access NHS dentistry after recent closures of NHS dental practices in Knighton and Crickhowell.
The contract will see check-ups based on oral health need rather than routine six-monthly appointments, with many patients waiting up to two years between recalls. While Welsh Labour Ministers dropped their plan to allocate patients randomly from a central list, the British Dental Association (BDA) has warned that the changes still risk harming outcomes without extra investment, recruitment, and retention measures.
The BDA has said there has been “no attempt to keep pace with the surging costs of delivering NHS dentistry”, with practices facing 10–15% higher costs while the contract uplift is set at just 6%, a real-terms cut. They warn this will worsen recruitment and retention, leaving only one-third of people in Wales regularly accessing NHS dental services.
In Brecon & Radnorshire, NHS dental provision is already at crisis point. The recent closure practices in Knighton and Crickhowell has left many residents without any local NHS option, forcing people to travel long distances, pay privately, or go without vital care. This local shortage highlights how fragile the system already is, and why reforms without real investment risk making the situation even worse.
James Evans MS, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, said:
“Patients want continuity, dentists want prevention properly valued, and everyone wants a contract that works in practice, not just on paper. Yet what is being proposed stretches recall intervals to two years and leaves major gaps in clarity about funding, access, and accountability.
“Continuity of care remains a real concern. Welsh Labour originally wanted to push patients into a centralised system, that plan has now been dropped, but there’s still no guarantee that people will be able to see the same dentist. Older people, rural communities, and those without transport or digital access risk slipping through the cracks unless safeguards are put in place.
“Complex care is still undervalued, and the Government has failed to show how restorative work, dentures and endodontics will be fairly paid for. If complexity isn’t rewarded, more dentists will walk away and patients will pay the price. And while Ministers claim £150 an hour will make NHS dentistry sustainable, the BDA estimates the true cost of running a dental chair is closer to £250. That gap tells you everything about the scale of the problem.
“In Brecon & Radnorshire, families already face some of the worst access to NHS dentistry in Wales. People are being forced to travel long distances after recent practice closures in Crickhowell and Llandrindod Wells, and are faced with the options of either paying privately, or going without. If this really is to be the most significant change in two decades, it must deliver real improvements, not just warm words, otherwise it risks becoming another missed opportunity by this Welsh Labour Government.”
