FOR the foreseeable future there are no plans to create more NHS dentist places in the Vale of Glamorgan, regional AM Andrew RT Davies has learned.

Vale resident and Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Mr Davies AM met with the chief executive of the Cardiff and Vale Health Board, Adam Cairns and was told that services in the area were being stretched by a fast-growing population and that currently no short-term plans were in place to alleviate the growing demand for NHS dental places.

Mr Davies said: “The health board currently handles provision on an area basis, rather than splitting Cardiff and the Vale into two separate parts.

“Unfortunately, no NHS practice in the Vale of Glamorgan is currently taking on new patients and this is resulting in a lot of disaffected constituents contacting me to express their concern.

“The advice provided by the Health Board is to seek a place on the 15 or 20 practices currently available in other areas of the health board, to the east in Cardiff and as far as the west to Bridgend.

“You have to ask is this a precursor to the type of service we might expect across all areas of public services if the proposed merger of the two councils in the area were to take place.

“Obviously, this is not an ideal situation for residents in the Vale and as such I will continue to press for more funding from the Welsh Government, which to date, has failed to protect the NHS services here in Wales.”