Mid Galloway Councillor Appeals To Save Local Dental Centre
Mid Galloway councillor, Alistair Geddes, is appealing to local people and fellow members of the Wigtown Area Committee to help save Newton Stewart’s dental centre.
Mr Geddes is asking local people to attend a meeting with local NHS bosses, after he requested that they attend face to face talks to explain why they are considering closing the town’s dental practice. Mr Geddes accused the NHS of providing residents with “inadequate consultation.”
Mr Geddes said that he was pleased that the Wigtown Are Committee has agreed to participate in the talks and is now awaiting confirmation from NHS bosses that the meeting will take place. They are due to make the decision by June 2nd, so Mr Geddes is urging as many people as possible to back the campaign to save the dental centre in Newton Stewart.
A spokesperson for the NHS explained that it is standard procedure for independent providers to offer NHS dental care and the plans are for the current services provided by the Newton Stewart Health Centre to be transferred to an independent salaried dental practice. This means that the NHS would take care of the registration process in what is known as a facilitated transfer and patients would not be responsible for finding their own dentist.
The spokesperson emphasised that the services provided to residents would not change and stressed that it would be the location and provider, which would be altered in line with Scottish Government policy and reviews carried out by the NHS. The health board is accepting comments and feedback on the plans until April 22nd.
Join this Discussion