Welcome to this month’s edition of Casebook. In this issue, we highlight new evidence on rural health inequalities from Northumberland, alongside opportunities to shape future research through a UK-wide study on rural and coastal cancer priorities. We also cover plans to expand the dental workforce to improve access to care, and a new webinar series exploring rural and coastal hospital services.
Together, these updates reflect both the challenges and opportunities facing rural health and care. Read on to find out more.
Inquiry Launched Into Transition From Children’s To Adult Health Services
The Health and Social Care Committee has announced a new investigation into how effectively young people are supported when transitioning from children’s to adult health and social care services.
The Committee’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP), chaired by Professor Dame Jane Dacre, will examine whether current arrangements are meeting the needs of young people, particularly those with complex or life-limiting conditions.
Key concerns include gaps in continuity of care, with some children’s services ending at age 16 while adult services may not begin until age 18, alongside reports of limited forward planning and poor communication with families. Challenges are often more pronounced for those requiring support from multiple services.
The inquiry will also consider how existing guidance, including that from NICE, is applied in practice, and whether services and commissioners are being held to account.
The issue is gaining prominence as more children with serious conditions are living into adulthood, increasing demand for coordinated transition pathways.
Further information and updates can be found here.
Nursing Care Funding Boost Aims To Strengthen Community Support
Around 80,000 people are set to benefit from improved community-based care following a 5.4% increase in NHS-funded nursing care rates, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care.
From April 2026, the standard weekly rate will rise from £254.06 to £267.68, with the higher rate increasing to £368.24. The uplift is intended to support care homes in delivering specialist nursing care, helping to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and support timely discharges.
The funding forms part of wider plans to strengthen adult social care and reduce pressure on hospitals, alongside longer-term ambitions to establish a national care service.
From a rural perspective, ensuring this funding is fairly distributed will be critical. As highlighted in the Rural Services Network’s Delivering for All roadmap, rural health and care services face additional challenges, including workforce shortages, higher delivery costs, and access barriers - which must be reflected in funding approaches to ensure equitable service provision across all communities.
Read the government announcement here.
Supporting Rural Health Inequalities
A new report from Northumberland County Council’s Director of Public Health shines a light on the unique factors shaping health and wellbeing in rural communities.
Rural Realities: Health Inequalities in Rural Northumberland explores how geography, access to services and the realities of rural life can influence health outcomes for residents.
While rural areas can offer strong community ties and access to nature that supports wellbeing, the report highlights challenges including long travel distances to services, limited public transport, digital connectivity gaps and the higher costs of living sometimes described as the “rural premium.”
The report also examines the experiences of farming communities, where isolation and mental health pressures can be significant. A short accompanying film shares some of these realities and the support being developed locally.
Director of Public Health Gill O’Neill said rurality shapes many aspects of daily life, from housing and employment to transport and education, and that understanding these realities is key to improving health and reducing inequalities.
The report also highlights the importance of community-led initiatives, outreach services and partnership working to ensure support reaches people living in rural areas.
More Dentists Planned As Government Moves To Expand Workforce
The government has announced plans to significantly increase the number of dentists able to practise in the UK, in a move aimed at improving patient access to appointments and tackling long-standing shortages in dental services.
Under new measures announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, thousands more dentists are expected to join the workforce over the coming years by expanding exam capacity for overseas-trained professionals and increasing the number of training places for students in England.
Currently, many qualified dentists who trained overseas are unable to practise in the UK because of limited places on the professional registration exams required to join the register of the General Dental Council.
The government says it will increase the number of places on the final part of the Licence in Dental Surgery exam run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England nearly tenfold, from 180 places to 1,800 by 2028. At the same time, the GDC will expand capacity for the clinical stage of its Overseas Registration Exam, increasing places to 1,500.
Together, these changes could allow around 2,400 overseas-trained dentists to register each year by 2028–29, helping address workforce shortages and potentially improving access to NHS dental care.
Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the changes were intended to help more patients receive care when they need it.
“No one in the 21st century should be left in a situation where they cannot access a dentist. Training more dentists and enabling those qualified overseas to practise will help ensure more patients are able to get the care they need.”
Alongside these reforms, the government has also announced the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 20 years, with an additional 50 dentists to be trained in England each year from 2027. The Office for Students has been asked to prioritise these new training places in areas that currently lack dental training provision, often referred to as “dental deserts”.
These areas frequently include rural and coastal communities, where patients can face particular difficulties accessing NHS dentistry.
Leaders within the profession welcomed the plans, noting that increasing exam capacity and expanding training places could help address workforce pressures and improve public access to care.
The government says the measures form part of wider plans to reform NHS dentistry and improve access to services, alongside longer-term work to reform the dental contract as part of its forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan.
Kerry Booth, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network:
Improving access to NHS dentistry is vital for rural communities, where many residents already face long journeys or lengthy waiting times to secure an appointment. Expanding the number of dentists able to practise in the UK is therefore a welcome step, particularly if it helps address the workforce shortages that have left many areas struggling to provide timely care.
However, workforce growth alone will not solve the challenges faced in rural areas. Any long-term solution must recognise the specific barriers rural communities face, including recruitment difficulties, travel distances and the higher costs of delivering services across sparsely populated areas.
Through our Delivering for All campaign, the Rural Services Network has called for a clear rural workforce strategy across health and care services, including dentistry, to ensure that people living in villages, market towns and coastal communities are not left behind when it comes to accessing essential healthcare.
Share Your Views: Rural & Coastal Cancer Research Priorities
A new UK and Ireland-wide study is seeking views on what matters most for cancer care and research in rural and coastal communities.
Led by researchers at the University of Lincoln, the Rural and Coastal Cancer Research Priority Setting Exercise aims to identify the most pressing research questions affecting people in rural and coastal areas across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The project is inviting contributions from:
- Health professionals
- Charities and voluntary organisations
- Academics and researchers
- Policymakers
- People with lived experience of cancer, and those who support them
The study begins with a short online survey, followed by optional hybrid and online workshops. Participants do not need to take part in all activities, but completing the initial survey is strongly encouraged to ensure a broad range of rural and coastal perspectives are captured.
The survey focuses on identifying key research priorities and gaps in cancer care for rural and coastal communities.
Take Part Here: Rural and Coastal Cancer Research Priority Setting Exercise
(Please read the participant information sheet before taking part.)
For further information, contact Dr David Nelson at dnelson@lincoln.ac.uk
The study has been approved by a research ethics committee at the University of Lincoln (Ref: 2026_22767).
Opportunity: Rural & Coastal Hospital Services
RSN members may wish to be aware of a new series of free-to-attend webinars being organised externally by the NHS - South West Region, the National Centre for Rural Health and Care, and PPL.
The webinars are not organised by RSN but may be of interest to members with a focus on rural, remote or coastal health services, particularly those working in provider settings.
The series will explore how small hospitals are responding to the challenges of delivering safe and effective services, with an emphasis on clinical models, service configuration and workforce issues. Transport and patient transfers are also expected to feature, particularly in the first two sessions.
Three sessions are planned:
Webinar 1 – Sustainable Emergency Services
22 April 2026, 9.30–11.30
Focusing on acute medicine, emergency department models, workforce, clinical adjacencies, ICU/HDU support, and transport.
Webinar 2 – Smaller Rural/Coastal Hospitals And Neighbourhood Health
Exploring the role of small hospitals within neighbourhood health and hub-based models.
Webinar 3 – Workforce And Technology: Small Hospitals As A Test Bed For Innovation
Shaped by learning from the earlier sessions, with a forward-looking focus on future solutions.
The first webinar is scheduled for 22 April 2026, 9.30-11.30. Please register by visiting: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rural-and-coastal-hospitals-sustainable-emergency-services-tickets-1982673341336?aff=oddtdtcreator
If you or colleagues would be interested in contributing good practice examples or local experience that would be useful to share please email: nigel.edwards@ppl.org.uk