Island MP Richard Quigley has welcomed the Government’s announcement that the Office for Students (OfS) will be asked to increase the maximum fundable number of dental school places in England by 50 – rising from 809 to 859.
This marks the first sustained expansion of dental training capacity in nearly 2 decades.
A significant part of this expansion will be the establishment of a new dentistry school in Portsmouth, improving training capacity across the region and substantially increasing the prospects of satellite training and treatment facilities being located on the Isle of Wight.
In a letter to the Isle of Wight West MP, Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock acknowledged Richard Quigley’s sustained work to improve dental services for Island residents.
The Minister wrote:
“Given your longstanding campaigning to improve access to NHS dentistry for the people of Isle of Wight West, I am pleased to let you know that we are asking the OfS to prioritise this expansion for new dental schools approved by the General Dental Council (GDC) that do not currently receive government funding for places.”
Welcoming the announcement, Richard Quigley MP said:
“One of the very first questions I asked in the Commons was about the Island’s status as a dental desert. To now see such clear and tangible action from the Government to address this is hugely welcome news.”
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He added:
“The next step in this campaign is to ensure Portsmouth is allocated the additional places, and I will be working closely with colleagues across the Solent to make that happen. Increasing training capacity here is the most effective long-term way to bring more dentists into communities like ours.”
MPs across Portsmouth also celebrated the announcement. Stephen Morgan MP (Portsmouth South) and Amanda Martin MP (Portsmouth North) both highlighted the importance of increased training capacity in ensuring better access to NHS dental care for residents across the wider Solent region.
Here he is again the olde chocolate teapot . Looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Proud member of the peado protectors party Liebor out general election now job centre que for Wrigley Quigley and two tier Kier. Thank god the clock is tickking.
wonder if this really bothers him he probably has private dental care on his soon to be £100000 a year plus expenses salary. Never mind he has secured massive price cuts on the ferries and vastly improved service levels oh wait a minute started dreaming then.. Liebor out.
Reform will be no different, ALL politicians tell Whoppers
part of being a Politician.
They all talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk
Nige is no different!
Do they think the extra 50 dentists will all work for the NHS??
Ofc they will, but only until they are qualified and have a week under their belts.
I wish Richard and Joe would start concentrating on local
elections that are less than 2 months away.
The island will fall behind if Reform take control
of the island, the island will be in a state deprivation
like never seen before.
Look what happened with Brexit the majority of the
Island voted for something they knew nothing about and
where did that get US!
Since Brexit there are less businesses on the island and
the majority of households are worse off!
Reform in Kent are increasing council tax charges
even though there was an election leaflet pledging to
cut tax.
If people are daft enough to vote for reform I doubt they will be influenced by anything Richard or Joe say