New Norfolk dental school to be running in 'a few years- local MP
UEA say work is already under way on an extension to the Edith Cavell Building on the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Campus
One of the county's MP is telling there could be a new dental school in Norwich within a couple of years.
The University of East Anglia plans have been approved by the UK regulator, the General Dental Council.
Despite this approval, the number of undergraduate training places yet to be allocated by the Office for Students.
UEA say work is already under way on an extension to the Edith Cavell Building on the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Campus.
The ground floor will be home to UEA’s new anatomy suite and the first floor extension – supported by £1.5m from the Greater Norwich Growth Board – will form a key element of the Norwich Dental School.
"We need change there"
Alice Macdonald is MP for Norwich North:
"It's also important that there are jobs here and that the conditions are attractive to stay in the county.
"That goes to the wider reform of the dental contract, because as it's currently structured often NHS dentistry doesn't pay in the way that private dentistry does. So, we need change there".
"We have to make sure that housing is here and that there are affordable homes for people to buy and live in.
"We also need to make sure that the infrastructure and services are there and good schools for people's children.
"The Government's has not long announced that they're putting £39 billion into affordable and social homes. That's a real injection of cash that will make a real difference".
Why has this been such a push for a new dental school, here?
People across Norfolk and Waveney have among the most limited dental access in England, with statistics recently revealing just one NHS dentist for every 2,600 people living in the region.
Figures seen by us show that the number of NHS dentists in Norfolk has hit a five year low - with just 329 practitioners still working in the county as of last year.
National workforce data given to us by Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System shows that 42 people left the profession between 2023 and 2024, with 33 joining over this period.