Giles Watling MP, the member of parliament for Clacton, has welcomed the news that the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) and {my}Dentist have announced a joint partnership to deliver 1750 more hours of NHS dentistry to patients in Tendring annually, in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire. The scheme, which launches as a pilot in September, could be replicated elsewhere with similar success.
Giles said, "I’ve always said we need massive healthcare investment in Clacton. I helped secure £18m for Clacton Hospital and the new community diagnostics centre. But I said we will do more. Well, I’m now thrilled to announce the next big delivery, as I promised, and here it is!
“One of the biggest issues in my postbag is a lack of NHS dental appointments locally. For the last year I have been working non-stop with the UK’s leading NHS dental provider, {my}dentist, and our local NHS commissioners- the ICS. The plan was simple - reimagine the contract process and think out of the box to bring new dentists from overseas to Clacton to treat NHS patients as part of an innovative training partnership with one of the UK’s leading dental schools, the University of Central Lancashire. These people can already practice here to see private patients as part of their course, but the national framework was just too inflexible to allow local solutions for local issues.
“I’ve been busy brokering meetings from Clacton to Whitehall, offering as many carrots as I can think of as well as the odd stick!
“Today we can announce that 1,750 new hours will be available exclusively for NHS patients at the {my}dentist Clacton dental practice from September 2023, which may provide as many as 1200 additional appointments in Tendring.
“I want to pay tribute to the team at {my}dentist, the inexhaustible Ed Garratt OBE from the ICS, and minister Neil O’Brien.”
Ed said, “We are delighted to launch this innovative scheme with {my}dentist to improve access to dentistry in Clacton. As ever it has been a team effort, and I am very grateful for Giles Watling’s support to get this new initiative up and going.”
Natalie Pearson, practice manager at {my}dentist Clacton, said, “We’re thrilled that this new initiative will allow us to treat more NHS patients whilst also training up the next generation of NHS dentists to help the local community. It wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and support of Giles Watling and the entire team at the local ICS, and we can’t wait to get started from the middle of September.”
Giles hopes that the scheme is able to be replicated across the country, alleviating backlogs that have seen people resorting to carrying out amateur dentist work on themselves. "The bureaucratic jungle we operate in England has meant that many trained overseas dental students who are qualified to practice on private patients, are unable to help those who need NHS dentists. Put simply, this is wrong, and I hope that other parts of the country are able to explore similar schemes for their constituents."