More dentists added to dental list in Moray confirms NHS Grampian in update to Richard Lochhead but challenges persist
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NHS Grampian has confirmed that 31 new dentists have joined the Grampian Dental List this year with seven being added to the Moray area.
In an update sent to Moray MSP Richard Lochhead, the health board reiterated the "adverse impact" the pandemic continues to have on dental services in Moray.
NHS Grampian also confirmed that since the pandemic, dental practices in Moray have increased their registered patient numbers by almost 4000.
However, there are currently no practices across Moray registering adult NHS patients but Lossiemouth Dental Practice is registering children under the age of 12 who live in the IV31 postcode area.
Mr Lochhead welcomed the update but added that he recognises that many people are still finding it difficult to register.
He said: “I know from my own inbox that people across Moray continue to experience difficulties in registering with an NHS dentist locally and some have unfortunately been de-registered by their practice.
"Since these issues emerged I’ve been in regular contact with NHS Grampian and the Scottish Government about the need to ensure capacity increases again here in Moray.
“It’s clear the pandemic had a significant impact on dental services causing a reduction in the number of new dentists coming into the system, which has disproportionately impacted on rural communities like Moray, and it seems the impact may be felt for some time.
“The latest update I’ve had from NHS Grampian indicates that over 30 new dentists have joined the region’s dental list this year, with 7 of those in the Moray area, which is to be welcomed.
"Hopefully we’ll continue to see numbers increase, which will in turn should allow practices to register more new patients.
"Whilst challenges clearly remain it does seem that Moray dental practices have managed to increase their patients numbers since the pandemic, albeit I know that will provide little comfort to those that have had the unfortunate experience of being de-registered or continue to struggle to register with a local practice.
“Access to NHS dental services is hugely important for the health of the local population and I will continue to press NHS Grampian to do all they can to ensure these services are widely available in our local communities.”
At a board meeting in August this year, Mark Burrell, chair of the NHS Grampian area clinical forum, said that the health board needed to engage with the Scottish Government to attract more professionals to the area.
He added: "We have failed to recruit dental core trainees two years in a row, for secondary care, and that has a huge knock-on effect in delivering secondary care dentistry.
"And primary care dentistry is really struggling. Aberdeen is fine, Shire is not great and Moray is pretty poor.
"I think that is something we need to go forward on."
The latest list of practices accepting new NHS patients can be found here.
