New outreach facility to help unregistered NHS patients

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 18 September 2024

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DUMFRIES, Scotland: After years of governmental neglect, the UK is now in the middle of a public dental health crisis. Caused mainly by underfunding and exacerbated by a consequent exodus of dentists into private practice or out of the profession altogether, the crisis has resulted in people across the region struggling to obtain National Health Service (NHS) appointments, having to travel long distances for dental care, being deregistered from clinics and, in the worst cases, performing their own dental care. The deterioration in public dental care has been felt most acutely in rural communities, such as the region of Dumfries and Galloway. Like in other geographically remote communities, the situation is critical here, but there appears to be help on the way.

The decline in dentistry within Dumfries and Galloway was brought to media attention in December 2022, when the BBC reported that a Dumfries clinic was preparing to deregister up to 5,000 patients, all of whom would then need to travel to seek care, enrol at a private clinic or miss out on dental treatment entirely.

Many local residents are now unregistered, and the question of how to provide them with proper dental care has become of pressing concern. The situation has been looking grim; however, the arrival of a number of undergraduate dental students through a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and the NHS has considerably improved prospects for deregistered patients.

Speaking to the BBC, Alison Milne, director of dentistry for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, remarked on the positive impact of the developments. She said: “It’s really good news—just started this week we’ve got the largest outreach dental facility in Scotland. We have got 12 undergraduate final-year students coming every week, and they’re able to provide courses of treatment for unregistered adult patients.”

The hope is that many of the final-year undergraduate students working as part of the outreach care programme will be convinced to remain permanently in the area after having completed their studies, thereby bolstering the local service shortage. Several students interviewed by the BBC expressed interest in returning to the area and helping to address the worsening situation; however, the key factor, as it has been throughout the crisis, is whether it is economically viable to do so or whether these young clinicians will be forced to direct their attention to private practice.