Last week our Peterborough Dental Access Centre was pleased to welcome the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP.

Staff at the centre were delighted to be able to showcase the facilities on offer in Midgate including in urgent dental care, minor oral surgery, oral health outreach and special care for adults and children with additional needs.

The Secretary of State was joined on the visit by:

• Andrew Pakes, MP for Peterborough
• Sam Carling, MP for North West Cambridgeshire
• Cllr Shabina Qayyum, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health at Peterborough City Council
• Cllr Anna Smith, Deputy Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
• Kate Vaughton, Chief Partnerships and Integration Officer at Cambridge and Peterborough Integrated Care Board

The visit on Thursday 27 February followed a Government announcement on additional urgent dental appointments.

The centre provides a range of specialised dental services for its patients. Some of its services are offered in the centre itself, and it also offers care under general anaesthetic at Peterborough City Hospital and out in the community.

Services include:

• Urgent dental care - A range of oral surgical procedures for patients referred by their general dental practitioner.
• Special care - Seeing adults and children who are unable to access a regular dentist due to their additional needs.
• Minor oral surgery - Aiming to make patients as comfortable as possible and offering pain relief until they can be seen by a regular dentist.
• My Smile programme and oral health improvement – Encouraging and supporting our local communities to develop tooth friendly practices.

The Secretary of State was shown around the centre by Julia Hallam-Seagrave, Head of Dental Service and Tracey Cooper, Service Director for Ambulatory Care.

Julia and Tracey showcased a range of features in the centre including dental surgeries, a minor oral surgery room, a dental surgery designed for bariatric patients, x-ray facilities, the central sterilisation room and a sensory room. It was also an opportunity for the Secretary of State to meet dentists, dental nurses and other support staff and hear more about their roles and their outreach work, including projects to support homeless people within the community and a “grow our own” approach to recruitment.

The access centre in Peterborough is part of DentalHealthCare, a specialised NHS community dental service which operates across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Suffolk and is run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. For more information visit www.dentalhealthcareeoe.nhs.uk