Calls for Dorset dental school to boost NHS dentist numbers

Dorset Council's People and Health committee heard discussions about a local dental school were underway

A dental school in Dorset is one idea being considered to increase the number of NHS dentists in the county, councillors have been told.

Dorset Council's People and Health committee heard 41% of Dorset's adult population had been able to access an NHS dentist over a two-year period.

Discussions about a dental school have begun in a bid to encourage dentists to train and then settle in the county.

NHS Dorset said the idea was longer-term and would be subject to finance.

Deputy director for strategic health commissioning for NHS Dorset, Robert Payne told the meeting he had witnessed "genuine distress" from dentists who wanted to meet patient demand, but were struggling to do so.

He said the lack of NHS dentists was because the government only offers enough funding for half the population and has a contract with dentists that is widely disliked and seen as grossly unfair.

Mr Payne said discussions about setting up a Dorset dental school had only just started, with a realisation that far too many training places were too far away, so a training facility might encourage dentists to train and then settle locally.

The meeting had earlier been told that 50% of dental professionals in England lived within the M25 corridor.

'Move on'

Weymouth Green Party councillor Jon Orrell, a GP, said that something radical was needed, asking if it was possible to develop a Dorset contract or to heavily subsidise housing to attract dentists.

A Portland councillor, Labour's Paul Kimber, said: "We do need a dental school in Dorset.

"We do need the government to help up - it's an awful statistic about the M25, you can't just desert communities like us.

"But I can understand the frustration and why dentists pack up and move on."

Conservative Robin Cooke, member for East Dorset, said many people who could afford a private dental contract should free space for patients in more need.

He said that by giving up an NHS space it might go a long way to solving the waiting list problem.

Following a Commons report into dental funding in July, the government said it had announced a 40% increase in dentistry training places and that the NHS dental contract has been reformed to encourage more dentists to provide NHS treatments.

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