Siân Gwenllian MS Working for the people of Arfon

The MS claims the school would improve local services

Today, Siân Gwenllian launched a report that made the case for establishing a school to train the dentists of the future at Bangor in her constituency. The Member of the Senedd for Arfon commissioned research from Lafan Consulting which builds the case for establishing a Dental School as part of Bangor University. The school is a part of the MS’ wider vision to turn Bangor into a centre of national excellence for medical education.

The launch took place at Bangor University and saw testimonials from figures from the University, the local Health Board, a first-year dental student at Cardiff, and the consulting company that undertook the research.

Siân Gwenllian, who represents the Arfon constituency in the Senedd says her calls for a School of Dentistry in Bangor arises from a growing dental crisis and the fact that so many of her constituents can’t access services.

“Individuals and children who wish to see a dentist for treatment or an examination under the NHS find that to be an almost impossible task in the Arfon constituency. I am inundated with cases of constituents failing to access services.

“The lack of NHS provision means that an increasing number of people and children are suffering unnecessary pain, turning to inappropriate methods of pain relief, and in the most serious cases turn to the emergency departments of our hospitals for help, creating a work and financial burden that could be avoided by preventing the problem from developing in the first place, or at least starting the treatment in a timely manner.”

The launch of the report ‘Filling the Gaps: The case for training dentists in Bangor’ was attended by dentists, academics, leading figures from healthcare in north Wales and politicians alike. The MS, who successfully campaigned for a Medical School for Bangor hopes to use the findings in the report to put pressure on the Welsh Government to start training dentists at Bangor University.

“The situation is poor across Wales, but evidence shows that the problem of patients not being able to access an NHS dentist is even worse in the north Wales health board area. My argument is that here in the north, at Bangor University, a new dental school should be established for the whole of Wales.

“As well as providing more dentists with a proportion likely to remain in the local area, the Bangor Dental School would be an important addition to the city’s role as a centre of excellence in health training which includes the new North Wales Medical School which I campaigned for successfully. In turn, this would strengthen the economy in Bangor by creating new high quality jobs.”

The report can be found here. The MS concluded:

“There are many benefits for the whole of Wales from the establishment of a new Dental School in Bangor and to evidence this, I commissioned this report from the independent research company Lafan, and the impressive conclusions are published here.

“I will shortly be launching a petition that local people can sign to show their support. Keep an eye on my social media platforms.”