Carlisle will get a new emergency dental centre by the end of the year, it has been revealed.
Members of Cumberland Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee were given an update on NHS dental provision at a meeting at Cumbria House in Carlisle yesterday, Thursday May 23.
Dave Gallagher, the chief contracting and procurement officer at North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board, told members that the temporary urgent dental access centre will be one of two in the trust area – the other is for Darlington – and aims to be operational by the autumn.
He said it was the result of eight recommendations outlined in a report by the committee’s dentistry task and finish group which had explored ways that dental provision could be improved in the Cumberland area.
Mr Gallagher said that access to dental treatment in the north east and north Cumbria areas was nowhere near where they wanted it to be, and it had been affected by a number of factors in recent years including a complete closure during the Covid-19 pandemic which had created a backlog.
He described the current NHS contract as being archaic and said a number of dental practices were handing the contracts back and concentrating on the provision of private treatment, which further restricted access to NHS care.
Mr Gallagher said he had found the recommendations helpful and during his presentation he outlined a response to each of them, including increasing the national minimum for units of dental activity, the amount which NHS dentists are paid for their work, from £28 to £31.64 – a rise of 12%.
He said: “We are exploring an open book true cost of NHS dentistry exercise, prioritising ‘at risk’ practices in the most deprived parts of our region and/or where there are significant access challenges.”
Mr Gallagher said there were 15 so-called golden hellos, as part of a national scheme which provides a cash incentive of up to £20,000 to those who committed to providing NHS care for at least three years, in the north east and north Cumbria area.
Councillor Gillian Troughton (Howgate, Labour), the committee’s new chairwoman, said she found the presentation very useful and asked how they could help to get the dental contract changed. She added: “It needs throwing in the bin.”
She said the committee had written to the local MPs but the responses they received had described how the Government was tinkering with the subject.
She added: “How can we get this pushed onto the national agenda?”
Mr Gallagher said they were also lobbying MPs and NHS England and he was confident that it would be looked at in due course. He added: “Anything that anybody can do will be welcomed.”
Councillor Andrew Semple (Cockermouth South, Labour) highlighted the fact that an NHS dental practice in his ward had recently handed back its contract and gone private and said: “There’s a feeling of helplessness.”
He admitted that if a resident knocked on his door asking what they should do about getting access to NHS dental treatment he wouldn’t have an answer.
He added: “I feel this is the first time in my life that the NHS has let me down. I can’t find how I would get any treatment.”
Mr Gallagher said there was a need for better communication and better signposting for patients and added: “I fully get the frustrations.”
Councillor Helen Davison (Belah, Green Party) said she found the presentation helpful and said: “This has started to answer some of the questions.”
When she asked whether north Cumbria was seen as a priority area for NHS dental treatment Mr Gallagher said nowhere had good access but pointed out that was why Carlisle had been identified as one of the two sites for a centre.
He added: “You are an area of need. That is why we are putting an urgent centre here.”
Councillor John Mallinson (Houghton and Irthington, Conservative) described the situation as a downward spiral and added: “It’s not a simple question of if you can get a dentist, it’s also the service they can provide.”
