NHS Shetland says it “remains fully committed to providing a sustainable and equitable dental service” despite continuing to work at almost 50 per cent less capacity than before the Covid pandemic. However, for the foreseeable future NHS Shetland public dental service is still only able to provide an emergency or non-routine service for the majority of patients. The health board said it is “extremely grateful for the continued understanding of the community in these unprecedented times for dental service provision”.
Dentistry director Antony Visocchi said: “The lack of access to general dentistry for patients registered with NHS Shetland was a recognised problem prior to Covid. “This issue has developed due to many factors, not least the long-standing recruitment and retention issues across many rural and remote areas. Covid has highlighted this issue and has exacerbated the problem.
“Additionally, the entire dental profession is now faced with a workforce shortage. Currently, there is a recognised shortage of dentists providing NHS care in Scotland. “To provide some further context to our circumstances, NHS Shetland public dental service is currently working at almost 50 per cent less capacity than the pre-Covid figures.
“With over 70 per cent of the Shetland population registered with us, this ‘real-time’ reduction has only exacerbated an already prevalent problem.” Additionally, identified priority groups remain a focus for the service to ensure the.
