Priti Patel MP visits community dental practice that focuses on the oral health of children and vulnerable people
The Witham MP, Priti Patel, has today (28th May) visited Community Dental Services CIC at the Witham Health Centre. The MP was given a tour of the facilities and a briefing about the CIC (Community Interest Company), which is 100% employee owned and employs some 286 people in practices across Essex.
Commenting on her visit, Priti said: “I was delighted to meet with CIC to hear about the excellent work they are doing to promote dental health and in particular the way in which they are supporting vulnerable people and helping to address health inequalities. They have helped children with autism, people with hearing and sight impairment and elderly people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease with dental care and are support people with specialist care needs and advanced medical conditions to provide oral health treatment.
“Social enterprises, like Community Dental Services are vital to providing an co-ordinated and integrated community healthcare system. They are already working on projects like National Smile Month, supervised toothbrushing and webinar training, aimed at getting children acclimatised to dentistry. There is much more to do in terms of health prevention and awareness and I look forward to working with CIC to support their work in the wider community. ”
Community Dental Services is a growing business having boosted turnover from £4 million to £13 million in the last year. It employed an extra 87 new staff members in the same period and handled 63,000 patient appointments.