Health bosses in Scotland have been urged to recruit dentists from abroad in order to tackle the dental access crisis affecting the country’s north-east region.
Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure to dramatically improve access in areas such as Grampian, where just 38 per cent of people are able to see an NHS dentist .
It is thought that up to 26,000 people are still waiting for NHS dental care in the north-east and with an increasing number of dentists opting to set-up private practices instead of carrying out NHS work, calls are now being made for health officials to start looking outside of Scotland for dental care support.
Aberdeen North SNP MSP Brian Adam has lodged a question in the Scottish Parliament asking what progress has been made to recruit foreign dentists .
He said: "There is a big gap in terms of who has access to an NHS dentist . There are just 38 per cent of people in the North-east who do, but in Glasgow the figure is about 70 per cent."
"I'm suggesting as part of the solution if we can't recruit NHS dentists here we should look elsewhere."
A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon responded by claiming significant resources have been invested to increase dental provision in the North-east.
An NHS Grampian spokesman said: ‘We fully support the recruitment of overseas dentists . NHS Grampian currently employs eight Polish dentists who are very professional and have settled in well in Scotland."
