£25,000 solution to NHS dental crisis (From Western Telegraph)

£25,000 solution to NHS dental crisis

Local Conservative parliamentary candidate Stephen Crabb has come up with an idea to solve Pembrokeshire's continuing NHS dental crisis.

He is proposing the creation of a £25,000 Pembrokeshire Dental Bursary.

The scheme would see Pembrokeshire young people who study dentistry receive annual payments of £5,000 for each of the five years of their course, on condition they return to the county to work within the local NHS for three years.

If they choose not to return the £25,000 would be repaid in full at an agreed interest rate.

Stephen Crabb said: "We need to find more dentists committed to Pembrokeshire and to the NHS.

"This bursary will encourage more local young people to think about a career in dentistry in Pembrokeshire and will act as an incentive for them to achieve the high grades now required to enter dental schools."

Stephen put forward the plan following meetings with Stuart Geddes, Welsh Director of the British Dental Association; Chris Martin, chairman of the local Health Board, and local dentists Ian Jones and Douglas Stuart.

The bursary could be joint-funded by the Local Health Board and Local Education Authority. A simple scheme offering a bursary to one student each year would cost £125,000 spread out over nine years and would lead to five new Pembrokeshire dentists being trained and returning to the county, he said.

Current dental problems are caused by difficulty in recruiting dentists to work in west Wales and the poor returns paid to dentists for NHS work.

Wales has an average of 3.6 dentists per 10,000 people, Pembrokeshire has 2.9 dentists. Said Stephen: "I hope this is one idea the Local Health Board will examine very closely."