GETTING dental care on the NHS could become a lot easier for those in Wellington.

NHS Somerset confirmed in a letter to Gideon Amos MP (Taunton and Wellington/Lib Dems) yesterday (February 5) that it is supporting plans for a new dental practice, with a premises already identified.

The premises, which has not been revealed, would require a full renovation, and no opening date has been given so far.

It will offer a mix of NHS and private dental services.

NHS Somerset said the new practice is undertaking a full survey of the property.

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Mr Amos said the confirmation of a new NHS dental practice for Wellington comes off the back of years of campaigning by residents.

According to a survey Mr Amos ran in 2022, less than half of those in Taunton and Wellington had access to NHS dental provision.

The MP, who raised the issue of Somerset’s “dental scandal” in Parliament in November, said: “Three years on, things have, incredibly, got worse.

“Over half the constituents who contacted me did have an NHS dentist but were then told it was going private, so they lost it. That decline has been consistent.

“My constituents are having to travel out of county and, as I said in the Chamber last year, one of them – a stage three cancer sufferer – is having to use her savings to pay for dental treatment she is entitled to for free on the National Health Service.”

The letter from NHS Somerset, which was jointly signed by Dr Bernie Marden, chief medical officer, and Jenny Albiston, dental strategy clinical lead, said: “We know people in the Wellington area, and more widely across Somerset, want better access to NHS dentistry and we hope you agree this is welcome news.

“This project is part of NHS Somerset’s broader dental recovery plan, which contains a range of measures to improve access.”

Mr Amos added: “This is good news for Wellington. Thank you to all those who have spoken out, who signed my petition or who have been pushing for better NHS dental provision in their own way.

“As Liberal Democrats, we ramped up pressure on the new government, both by making the NHS and care our number one priority at the general election and by working with the British Dental Association and others.

“As a team of 72 MPs, we have stopped at nothing in Parliament to push ministers to provide more NHS dentists.

“This surgery, welcome though it is, won’t solve the whole of Somerset’s problems, so we will continue to make better dental provision and a better NHS generally, our number one priority.”