Shetland Times Column 22nd November 2024
Last week’s text notification about de-registration to some patients at the Lerwick Dental Practice (LDP) is deeply concerning and has highlighted how the current Scottish Government dental policy is not meeting the needs of island patients.
The long-term health effects of not having regular dental check-ups and treatment are not difficult to imagine. Constituents have been in touch describing their oral health difficulties, including one who has not seen a dentist for nine years.
In a dentistry debate led by Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament earlier this year, we heard of DIY dentistry using tools bought online as well as people travelling abroad, to get the treatment they need - including one who went as far as Goa.
In my previous correspondence with the Scottish Government, the public health minister highlighted that problems were caused by the pandemic with the resulting backlog of treatment. We know, however, that there were issues with dental services here in Shetland long before Covid-19.
Patients unable to register in Shetland cannot simply hop on a bus or drive miles down the road in search of another dental practice that may or may not be taking on NHS patients.
Recruitment and retention has been an issue for years in Shetland, and not just for dentists. We should also recognise there’s a dental recruitment issue across the country but the challenges that brings are exaggerated in an island setting.
I have written again to both the Scottish Government and NHS Shetland about these latest developments to ask what steps can be taken in finding a solution. We know that NHS Shetland has produced a strategy but it will take time to embed.
It is not surprising that people have contacted me regarding their concerns about developments at the Lerwick Dental Practice. It does not bode well for the future of people’s oral health for there not to be a fully accessible public dental health service.
It is patients who are being failed here with little prospect of improvement in the short term. It is time that those most closely involved in this situation get around the table and work out how to move forward for the benefit of patients.
Meanwhile in both London and Kirkwall this week, farming and rural communities gathered to express their outrage at the implications in the UK Government Budget. The tax rule changes appear driven by spreadsheets in the Treasury pouncing on capital-rich figures for farms while ignoring the cash-poor experience of many in the sector.
The cumulative effect of this family farm tax and other legislative changes, and the lack of ring-fenced multi-annual agriculture funds, will spread throughout the supply chain and into communities. It was therefore unsurprising that the impact of the UK Government’s Budget on Scotland’s rural economy was debated vigorously in Holyrood on Tuesday.