In Plymouth, 22,000 residents remain on waiting lists for dental care as provision in the South West has long been insufficient, negatively affecting the population’s health, particularly children’s oral health, reports The WP Times with reference to Plymouthherald.
This week, Plymouth’s three Members of Parliament – Labour’s Luke Pollard (Sutton and Devonport), Labour’s Fred Thomas (Moor View), and Conservative Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) – met with Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Care, to highlight the urgent need to expand dental training places in the city. Their aim is to retain more dentists in the South West and improve access to dental services for residents.
The Peninsula Dental School is set to open a new £5 million city-centre facility, designed to expand urgent care services and train the next generation of dentists. This new facility forms part of the ongoing “Health Village” development in Plymouth city centre.
Currently, the dental school admits 58 students each year. To address the growing demand, the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE), which delivers thousands of appointments annually and provides essential outreach to vulnerable communities, is campaigning alongside the MPs for an additional 14 funded undergraduate places. This would increase the annual intake to 72, helping to reduce the shortage of dental services across the region.
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