RESTRICTED access to NHS dental services has for too long been a sore point across the Highlands.
The opening of a brand new £1.3million clinic in Dingwall this week should have a dramatic impact in easing the pain for many people. Health chiefs confirm that in excess of 2,000 people had already asked to be placed on the waiting list for registration in Dingwall. The admin team behind the new set-up at Inchvannie House won't, it's fairly safe to say, find themselves twiddling their thumbs any time soon. Three more dentists are due to join lead practitioner Dr Navin Aziz over the next couple of months. According to the terms of the contract with NHS Highland, 80 per cent of the income generated at the practice must come from delivery of NHS services. Given Scotland's still poor record on diet and dental hygiene, this increased access, coupled with ramped up education in nursery and primary school, should start to make a difference pretty soon.
As a footnote, anything that can be done to clear confusion about charges for NHS dentistry would also be a step in the right direction. Anecdotal evidence from patients suggests a lack of consistency in charges for similar treatment at different practices at worst and ongoing confusion about what exactly they're being charged for at best.
PLUGGING holes in roofs is a different exercise altogether from filling them in teeth but that's what's been bothering parents of children at Invergordon Academy this week.
A number of parents spoke of their alarm on seeing buckets collecting rain falling through the roof into the canteen area when they turned up at school on Monday. Questions are being asked about why a contractor from so far outwith the area is handling the £149,000 contract, although Highland Council makes clear procurement rules have been followed to the letter. It's somewhat ironic that a local firm was called in to clean up the mess and patch things up so the school could open the next day. This was achieved in pretty challenging circumstances.
It's no secret that a substantial portion of our school estate is not in the best nick. While there appears to be no evidence that the contractor employed to carry out the renovation work has fallen foul of stipulations, Highland Council officials will doubtless now be keeping a very close eye to make sure it's done and done properly. The fact that there's already some doubt about whether it will be completed on time next month does rather set the alarm bells ringing.
The other side of this coin as some councillors privately admit is the fact that even local contractors have sometimes in the past bumped up prices charged to the local authority as a matter of course. It is in everyone's best interests that real value for money and track record are top priorities, along with no-nonsense penalty clauses for work falling short of expectation.
