NHS dental care at resort 'turns the corner'

THOUSANDS of new patients are to receive NHS dental care in Whitby with health bosses saying they have turned a corner in improving access to North Yorkshire's much-criticised services.

But despite millions of pounds being invested and major improvements made to dental provisions in the county, with 10,000 people on waiting lists across York and Selby, it is admitted more still needs to be done.

Lorraine Naylor, assistant director of primary care for North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust, said: "We are very pleased with the progress we have made but there is still a lot of work to do.

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"Whitby was an area where we knew we needed far more provision – there was a worry and we needed more capacity there.

"We have certainly turned a corner in North Yorkshire but there are still some issues that we are looking at closely at the moment."

Around 2,000 places are available at Whitby Dental Care, based at St Hilda's Business Centre.

Hundreds of NHS patients have already joined since it opened earlier this year and there are now three dental practises accepting NHS patients in the town.

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Nearly 6m has been spent on NHS dental services in North Yorkshire since 2008, and a further 2.3m is due to be invested during the new financial year.

Figures released in March by the primary care trust revealed a total of 113,702 people have been allocated to a NHS dentist since a database was launched in 2005.

More than 7,000 patients have been assigned to a NHS dentist during the current financial year, with 1,884 people allocated to a local dental practice in January alone.

A lack of NHS dental provision across the region has been a major concern, with the Yorkshire Post launching its Stop the Rot campaign five years ago to highlight the inadequacies of dental services throughout Yorkshire.

Anyone who wants to be allocated an NHS dentist in North Yorkshire can register their details by telephone on 0300 303 8010.