HEALTH bosses have drawn up new plans to improve access to dental care on the National Health Service.

Latest figures released by North Yorkshire Health Authority show that only 55 per cent of dental practices in the county are accepting patients.

Patients in the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale areas are said to have the most difficulty finding NHS services - and the problem is likely to get worse during the summer, with large numbers of tourists visiting the moors and the coast.

But plans to introduce personal dental service pilot schemes, already approved by the Department of Health, are set to improve services for patients who are not NHS-registered.

Unregistered patients will mainly be seen at three centres in the Colburn, Scarborough and York areas.

Approval has also been given for a mini pilot scheme to be established in the Craven area, where two local dentists in Settle or Skipton will provide additional appointments for the urgent treatment of unregistered patients.

The authority's director of primary care, Dr Gavin McBurnie, said: "The aim is to establish these pilots by August 2001. They will provide general dental services to patients who experience problems accessing NHS dentistry and who are not registered with a dentist."

"There are currently several areas in North Yorkshire where a patient may have difficulty finding a nearby practice which is accepting NHS patients. Similarly, many practices have waiting lists which would not meet the patient's need for urgent treatment within 24 hours.

"To address this, the health authority has been working with the five community dental services in North Yorkshire to increase the availability of "safety net" appointments.

"Additional appointments have been created to ensure access to urgent treatment across North Yorkshire each day, Monday to Friday. This is important to ensure appropriate use and to encourage registration."

A new service covering unregistered patients at weekends is also in the pipeline and is likely to be provided by dentists in York, Scarborough, Northallerton and Harrogate, for three hours each day on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Interested dentists are being sought and the aim is to have a service in place by September.