Hampshire gets new dental van
Residents in rural Winchester could soon benefit from dental care on their doorstep, it has been announced.
A new mobile dental unit will visit residents in the Meon Valley from the 6th September, as part of an initiative to improve services in rural areas. The van will help to provide access to dental services for those who struggle to get into the main towns and will be a great help for those who cannot drive, parents of young children and the elderly.
The mobile unit has been approved after research found that there was a significant gap between services in rural and urban Hampshire; residents in the heart of Winchester also said they struggled to see an NHS dentist and a new practice will open soon to address this problem. The new surgery will open in Southgate Street in the coming weeks.
The mobile unit will visit patients in Wickham, Bishop’s Waltham and East Meon initially but the NHS is hoping to expand services to the Stockbridge area over the course of the new few months.
Residents in rural areas will be able to access high street dental services via the mobile unit, which will be equipped with the appropriate equipment and instruments to provide patients with a range of treatments. It is hoped that the new services will enable more people to benefit from NHS care.
The new NHS services will help an additional 9,500 patients in the Winchester area; patients are encouraged to contact the NHS dental help line to arrange appointments and register with the new Southgate Street practice. Appointments will be allocated gradually, to avoid a sudden rush.
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