New dental and health centres to be built in Scotland

Published on Monday 19 January 2009 21:17

SCOTLAND is to get 15 new dental practices in efforts to increase access to NHS services under plans announced yesterday.

The health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, unveiled NHS boards' proposals to spend 82 million on new facilities. These include 13 dental centres, as well as two others that will be part of multi-purpose units housing a number of services, such as GPs and social services.

Other projects include further health centres, GP premises and grants for community pharmacists.

Ms Sturgeon said she expected the new projects to enhance dental access across Scotland, following a rise in NHS registrations and the opening of a new dental school in Aberdeen.

It comes after The Scotsman revealed last month that more than 82,000 people in Scotland were on waiting lists for an NHS dentist.

NHS Highland said it would use a 5.6 million cash injection from the Scottish Government to give an extra 35,000 patients in the Highlands access to an NHS dentist.

In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the Possilpark Health Centre, in one of the most deprived parts of the city, will be replaced with a new 9 million building that will also include social services and dental access.

NHS Grampian will use its 7.6 million allocation to create new dental centres in Foresterhill, Huntly and Fraserburgh.

Ayrshire and Arran, Fife, Orkney, Tayside and Western Isles will also get new dental facilities.

Other areas will use their cash to create or update other primary care services, such as GP centres.