Lib Dems raise concerns over access to NHS dentists in Scotland
The Liberal Democrat party has raised concerns over the varying numbers of NHS dental patients across Scotland.
The alarm was raised following the release of figures, which indicated huge differences between the percentages of people who were registered with an NHS dentist in different parts of the country; the total percentage of people who were registered with an NHS dentist ranged from 82.5 percent in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to 46.6 percent in Grampian.
Figures for children also showed significant differences in patient registration, with 93.3 percent of children in Greater Glasgow and Clyde registered with a dentist and 70.7 percent registered in Grampian.
The figures confirm that some areas are very well served by NHS dental services; however, the shocking differences between different areas of the country show that there is a severe lack of provision in other areas. Areas suffering from poor provision include Grampian and Highland areas.
Jamie Stone, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrat party, said the figures were alarming and blamed the extremes on a severe shortage of NHS dentists in rural areas of Scotland. Although the figures show that the total number of registrations is increasing steadily each year, health ministers and politicians are aware that a lot more needs to be done to ensure everyone has equal access to dental services across the country.
Over the last few years, efforts have been made to improve services in rural areas and new dental schools have been opened in a bid to encourage dental students to stay and practise in rural areas after they qualify. An increase in the number of dentists will undoubtedly improve provision and enable people to see a dentist without having to travel long distances.
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