MP welcomes move to upskill dental staff to reduce emergency waiting times

Local MP Tim Farron has welcomed the news that Cumbria's special care and community dental service are in the process of upskilling their dental staff in order to reduce waiting times for emergency treatment.

The service, which operates out of a number of hospitals in the county including Westmorland General Hospital, have now trained a number of dentists, dental therapists and dental nurses to deliver sedation to those patients who need it.

Meanwhile, this week Tim met with the British Association of Dental Therapists in Westminster as part of his campaign to improve access to NHS dentists in the South Lakes.

South Cumbria is the worst area in the country for access to an NHS dentist, with people having to travel to either Maryport or Blackpool for their nearest available place.

Tim said: "This is really welcome news and will be a big boost in helping people who need emergency dental treatment.

"However, this does not fix the underlying problem that we don't have enough NHS dentists locally.

"With the help of organisations like the British Association of Dental Therapists and the British Dental Association, I will continue to campaign for the Government to change the contracts to reward dentists for doing preventative treatment, so that we can bring the dentists that we so desperately need to the South Lakes."