Sir,
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant's claim that "the dental services in the Western Isles have
been sub-
If she ever requires their services, she'll find that they are highly skilled, committed, patient orientated professionals working in state of the art facilities.
Maybe Mrs Grant should caste her mind back to before 2007 when the then Labour administration presided over a highly troubled NHS across Scotland. There was no real dental care plan to deliver the services, and we were treated in an outdated facility in Bayhead with a waiting list of three years.
To understand the level of improvement since 2007 when the Labour Administration were replaced by the SNP Scottish Government the local dental care statistics speak for themselves.
There has been a 36% rise in the number of people registered with dentists. The number of children with tooth decay has declined by 19%. The number of patients seen by dentists has risen by over 70%.
Improvements of this magnitude have only been achieved with investment by the Scottish Government, the Western Isles Health Board and more importantly the skills and commitments of the local dental professionals.
There is no doubt that there is scope for further improvements which our local dental services are currently working on. If Rhoda Grant and her colleagues in the Labour Party were half as good as the local dental team, her party would not be in the turmoil which is now haunting them.
Archie Harper
27 Shulishader
Point
Isle of Lewis
Letter: Highly skilled dental services
26 September 2015