The NHS Highland Salaried Dental Team in Portree has transferred from the two-surgery temporary clinic it had been using in Bayfield to the new £1.2 million facility at Sraid An Eorna and it is now open for patients.
Duncan MacFadyen, of Fiscavaig, was the first patient to be treated at the new clinic, which has three dental surgeries and a soft clinic room to provide oral health education.
He said: “The new dental clinic is great. It’s a first class facility. It’s really spacious and it’s good that the staff have got such a lovely place to work. It’s convenient, with plenty of parking. Just what we needed in Portree.”
Dentist Graham Smith said: “We were delighted to put the new clinic to its proper use for the first time. It is a state of the art facility and provides an excellent environment for both patients and staff.”
There are currently two full time dentists working at Portree Dental Clinic. A third dentist is due to start part time in March and there are plans to recruit another member of the team to fully utilise the three surgeries.
NHS Highland Dental Service Development Manager, Alex Fraser, said: “We are delighted that the opening of this clinic will significantly improve access to NHS dental care for people living in Skye and Lochalsh.
“The waiting list for this area currently stands at 2,244 and, once the new dentist is in post, NHS Highland will be able to offer some of these patients access to NHS dental care, starting with those who have waited the longest.”
And, Kate Earnshaw, who is Clinical Services Development Manger for Skye, Lochalsh, Ross Cromarty and West Ness, said: “This is a fantastic new facility for Skye and Lochalsh from which patients and staff alike will benefit.”
The clinic is unable to accept direct requests for NHS dental registration. Anyone wishing to access NHS dental care at the clinic should contact the NHS Highland Dental Helpline on 0845 644 2271 or via email at nhshighland.dentalhelpline@nhs.net.
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Notes to editors:-
The new clinic was built for NHS Highland by Robertson Construction and the project was managed by management, engineering and development consultants Mott MacDonald.
Work started on site in June of last year and the building was handed over to NHS Highland by the contractors on January 16.
Currently the NHS Highland Salaried Dental Service offers the only access to dental services on the island at a single-surgery clinic in Dunvegan Health Centre and at the new three-surgery clinic in Portree.
