£4.7 million 'teach and treat' dental centre to go ahead

Published on Monday 22 February 2010 21:14

A LANDMARK £4.7 million dental "teach and treat" centre is set to go ahead in Stornoway after being given planning permission.

Work is due to start next month and be completed by the end of the year. The new facility will be built in the grounds of the Western Isles Hospital and have seven general dental surgeries and five new modern training surgeries.

These will be used by NHS Education for Scotland in association with Scottish universities and colleges.

NHS Western Isles chief executive Gordon Jamieson said: "This will provide the islands of Lewis and Harris with modern dental facilities capable of improving the dental health of the local population, through the delivery of first-class dental care and treatment."

Malcolm Wright, chief executive of NHS Education for Scotland, said the centre will help teach dental students on outreach from Aberdeen University dental school and it will support new graduates as they undertake their first post-qualification year. In addition, links with the University for the Highlands and Islands will allow oral health therapists to be trained in the new centre.

Meanwhile, plans have been unveiled for a pioneering new rural health research and education centre in Inverness.

The facility will be part of the Centre for Health Science (CfHS) and earmarked for the proposed Inverness Campus.