This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
New dental centres for Highlands
27/11/2006
Two new NHS dental centres in the Highlands were officially opened today.
The Lochshell Dental Clinic in Wick and an expansion to Culloden Dental Clinic will between them provide dental services to an estimated 5,000 NHS patients in the next 18 months.
Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald said:
"This is great news for the north of Scotland. These two projects I am opening today will dramatically increase the number of patients in the Highlands who are able to be seen and treated by an NHS dentist.
"We know that there have been problems with access to NHS dentistry in the Highlands and these new centres form just one aspect of the work we are doing to improve access.
"Expanding the salaried NHS dental service at places like Wick and Culloden, together with generous new financial rewards for high street dentists who treat all categories of patient in the NHS, will help restore the health of our dental services and allow us to improve Scotland's oral health."
Lochshell Dental Clinic provides routine and emergency care for patients across Caithness and will be the base for all NHS dentists working in the county.
Three hundred patients have already been offered the chance to register with the clinic, which has five surgeries, and it is anticipated that around 2,200 more patients will be registered within 18 months.
The construction of the new building was commissioned by Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE), as part of the development of Wick Business Park.
CASE chief executive Carroll Buxton said: "The development of Wick Business Park is an integral part of our plans to regenerate the local area.
"By working in partnership with NHS Highland we have been able to attract new, high-quality jobs to the north. This state-of-the-art facility will benefit local people, and will also enhance the area's image to potential inward investors."
In Culloden, an extension to Culloden Dental Clinic has created three extra surgeries.
The clinic has already enabled 300 new NHS patients to register. It is expected that within 18 months, 3,000 patients will be registered as more dentists are recruited.