10.10.19
NHS Western Isles to introduce Uist dental ‘hub’ within 18 months
NHS Western Isles has announced that a new dental hub for patients in Uist is set to be introduced within the next 18 months, centralising NHS dental services for the area.
As part of the scheme, NHS Western Isles said the new facility would operate outreach provision for older people and disabled people. This part of the service will provide dental care in homes or a venue nearby.
The new dental hub will be located at Uist and Barra Hospital, and will see surgeries at Lochmaddy in North Uist and Liniclate in Benbecula shut. However, they will remain open until the hub at Balivanich in Benbecula opens.
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NHS Western Isles said there was also a wider long-term plan to bring Benbecula Medical Practice and Scottish Ambulance Service personnel into the hub as well.
Despite some backlash to the scheme by patients in further away destinations around Uist, chief executives of NHS Western Isles and the local authority agreed that the central hub be created.
They had been asked to make a decision after members of the Western Isles Integration Joint Board, which oversees health care services, failed to reach a majority decision on the future shape of Uist dental services following a vote.