NHS bosses are drawing up a plan for military families to receive dental care at Catterick’s new £55m integrated care campus (ICC).
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has faced calls for civilians to receive dental treatment at the centre after it emerged that 20 dental surgery rooms out of 21 would be reserved for soldiers.
MoD chiefs have argued that the military needs the surgeries to ensure soldiers are fit for duty, but local councillors say the facilities should be made available for civilians when capacity allows.
In an update given to North Yorkshire Council, Lisa Pope, NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) deputy place director for North Yorkshire, said the board was preparing a business plan to be given to the MoD for the families of military personnel to receive dental care at the centre.
She hopes this will lead to the MoD relaxing its stance on the wider community receiving treatment at the ICC.
The NHS officer said: “We have put together a business case and we’re working with our MoD colleagues to see if there’s a proof of concept we could do to open up the facilities to the NHS and military families, to see that it’s not so terrible and it’s not going to take loads of capacity.
“The business case will hopefully show you can care for the spouses and the children of your serving personnel, look after their families, support the serving personnel because they’re not worrying about the kids having toothache or whatever, and it’s not distracting them.
“Hopefully, once that’s done and it works, we could potentially open it up to other civilians in the area.”
The proposal was welcomed by Hipswell and Colburn councillor, Kevin Foster.
He said: “While this is a welcome and positive development, the scale of local dental need must be fully recognised.
“This site could and should have been the moment to expand NHS dental provision for residents across the wider Catterick and Colburn area.
“With the right approach, this project could become a model of integrated care, not a missed opportunity.”
An Army spokesperson said: “Defence Dental Primary Healthcare facilities are established to meet the needs of the military population. Care is provided to all military personnel around the country by military dentists as a benefit of service.
“The Army is a physically demanding career where health and well-being are critical to success. The Army also has the potential to deploy its people at short notice anywhere in the world for prolonged periods in possibly austere conditions, it therefore needs them to be dentally fit at all times.
“The Catterick Integrated Care Centre includes community dental health provision for adults and children with a disability or serious mental illness, in addition to MoD dentistry.”
The one community surgery room currently proposed for the new centre will transfer from Harewood Medical Practice in Catterick Garrison, which treats patients with learning difficulties who would have difficulty receiving treatment at a normal dental practice.
The ICC is costing the taxpayer £55m, including a £12.69m contribution from the NHS.
The centre is due to open next year.
