Manx Care hoping to recruit fourth dentist in near future
Plans are in place to assign all 5,800 patients waiting for an NHS dentist on the Isle of Man to Hillside Dental Clinic.
The facility in Douglas was taken over by Manx Care in December 2023 and became ‘fully functional’ in February this year.
Since then two attempts to recruit an additional dentist to support the service have been unsuccessful.
But interim Health and Social Care Minister Alfred Cannan says he’s hopeful there will be progress in the near future:
Earlier this week Manx Care revealed it was in 'early dialogue' with the Department of Health and Social Care about introducing specific eligibility requirements to register with an NHS dentist.
Around 43,000 people on the Island are registered with an NHS dentist with an additional 5,800 on the waiting list.
Manx Care believes that if the Island adopted the UK's eligibility criteria only 18,000 residents would qualify for NHS dental care.
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