Thousands queue for treatment at dental surgery

Thousands of desperate patients recently lined the streets of Perth after hearing of news that new places in an NHS surgery were opening up.

The new centre, Caledonia Dental Care, is opening in York Place and will be accepting 9,000 new patients.

The news quickly spread at the weekend and a queue began to form at around 6am early Saturday. The queue quickly made its way from the reception of the dental surgery, along the street and into neighbouring roads.

The news of registration led to patients travelling from all over Scotland for the chance. It was reported that 7,400 people had already tried to register.

A dentist from Caledonia Dental Care, John Cockburn, was shocked when he saw the length of the queue growing, stating that ‘they came from all over the place, from Fife, from up north.’ He even saw an elderly man queuing from 6am.

Cathy Jamieson, Labour health spokeswomen, stated that this response to new places has shown that more needs to be done as a way of handling the lack of NHS places available across Scotland.

She further stated that to have people ‘queuing round the block’ shows that there must be a large shortage.

However, the Scottish Government defended its record of dental care, stating that they have made NHS dentistry a top priority in recent years and are working hard to reverse the years of decline in spaces available.

NHS Tayside was given a £5.4 million payment in January in order to set up new dental clinics.