Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MSP Alasdair Allan has said the case for the Uist Dental Hub proposals is “unravelling” in his submission to the Western Isles Integrated Joint Board’s consultation on Dental Services in Uist.

The IJB has decided that its preferred model for the delivery of dental care in Uist is to have a single service operating from Uist and Barra Hospital. That would involve the closure of the dental clinics in Lochmaddy and Liniclate, with the clinic in Lochboisdale already having been closed earlier this year. 

The proposal has been met with strong local opposition since its inception and the local MSP has continued to raise this matter on behalf of people in Uist. The IJB launched a consultation on Uist Dental Services at the beginning of October and held a series of public meetings in Uist last week. The consultation will run until 8 December. 

Alasdair Allan MSP commented:

“The unanimity of representations I have received against this proposal has been unprecedented. It is pretty clear that people in Uist simply do not want to move to the model of a single hub operating out of the hospital. 

“Last week’s public meetings were very well attended which I think helped show the depth of feeling against these changes. Attendees asked some very probing questions about the financial and operational cases presented, and exposed a range of shortcomings with the proposal in its current form. 

“It is clear that progressing with the single hub model would, in the view of most people in Uist, be a retrograde step for the delivery of dental care in the Uists and it is hard to conceive of a justification for the IJB to press on with this option in the face of such opposition. I hope they will now seriously reconsider these plans.”