More than 3,000 'hard to reach' patients in North Staffordshire have been referred to NHS dentists following the launch of a new scheme.

NHS commissioners identified six areas of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme as having the lowest levels of oral health and NHS dental access in Staffordshire.

Following this audit, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) launched a scheme to refer people living in these areas to local dentists, who were paid extra to reach out to the patients.

A total of 3,436 patients in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle have been referred to practices so far.

Laura Bird, primary care programme lead at the ICB, told scrutiny committee members at Stoke-on-Trent City Council that the results had been 'incredibly positive'.

The adult social care, health integration and wellbeing committee heard that the referral scheme was being carried out alongside work to improve dental access across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Ms Bird said: "Our audit identified 12 priority areas across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Priority areas one to six, which were our focus, were in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

"Through handed back activity and contract terminations we were able to pump that activity back into Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle areas, commissioning extra activity at a higher rate

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"Social workers, health visitors and voluntary organisations were given access to referral forms for a patient or family. The practice will then pick it up and actively reach out to the patient, so the patient doesn't have to do anything.

"That's why we commissioned it at a slightly higher rate, because we wanted the practices to do the leg work to bring these patients in. They'll offer flexible appointments, and take on the entire family."

Ms Bird told the committee that overall NHS dental activity across Staffordshire had increased this year following the ICB's decision to increase the amount practices are paid per 'unit of dental activity'.

In 2025/26, practices in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have been delivering around 90 per cent of contracted NHS activity, higher than the previous three years and up from 75 per cent in 2022/23.

An extra 16,190 urgent dental appointments are also being delivered annually across the area as part of a national programme launched by the government to fulfil a manifesto pledge.

But Ms Bird said the ICB was not seeing the demand for these appointments from the public, and so had launched a communications campaign to raise awareness of urgent dental treatment.

Councillor Daniela Santoro, a member of the committee, said that she had noticed the recent increase in NHS dental activity in her own Hartshill Park and Stoke ward. She said: "I've got two dental practices in my ward and both of them have been actively recruiting NHS patients. I've not seen that for a decade."

Ms Bird said some practices are actually finding it difficult to recruit enough NHS patients, and the ICB is looking at ways of helping them.

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Councillor Majid Khan, cabinet member for health integration and wellbeing, welcomed the improving access to NHS dentistry in Stoke-on-Trent.

He said: "This improvement has been long overdue. We have had challenges in Stoke-on-Trent with the levels of tooth decay among young children, and lower levels of dental access in areas of the city with higher deprivation levels.

"So it's welcome that these changes have been made so the community is going to be able to access services."

Cllr Khan asked the ICB to provide the committee with further data showing access to NHS dentistry by ethnicity, age and gender as well as geographical area.