Dental waiting lists in Scotland lengthen
NHS dentistry waiting lists in Scotland have reached a standstill according to latest figures.
Patients are calling on the Scottish government to re-examine oral health care provision after it was revealed that almost 80,000 people are waiting to be registered on the books of Scottish practice’s books and the number doesn’t seem to be decreasing.
Despite waiting figures dropping from 82,166 last year to 79,375 this year in many rural areas waiting list numbers have grown.
NHS Grampian revealed that the number of patients on its waiting lists had grown from 30,936 to 31,798.
In response to the scary statistics the Scottish government issued a statement saying that it was aware of the access issues involved with NHS dentistry and claimed it was taking action to remedy the situation.
MSP Ross Finnie, Lib Dem health spokesman, said that it was “unacceptable” that so many people were having to wait to register with a dentist and said that the government was failing to reach its target of registering 80 per cent of three to five-year-olds by 2010.
Andrew Lamb, British Dental Association director for Scotland, said the access problem was at its worse in rural areas and called on the government to listen to the concerns of dentists before it draws up a ‘solution’ to the problem.
Shona Robison, public health minister, said that the government was increasing the number of NHS dentists and registering more patients but admitted that, despite substantial financial investment by the government, there were still problems with access to NHS dentistry.
Ms Robison added that new training centres were being opened which had led to an increase in the number of dental students in Scotland.
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