A new NHS dental service has opened at Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital, increasing access to dental treatment for patients in the north of the island.

The unit began operating earlier this week, following a delay caused by minor repairs required after recent storms.

A salaried dentist will provide appointments from the facility, with the aim of improving access to NHS dental care for people in the area.

Manx Care is also seeking to recruit an additional dentist to increase the service's capacity and support more patients requiring treatment.

Initially, appointments will be available to three groups of patients.

These include people in the north who are already on the NHS dental waiting list. Manx Care will contact these patients directly, and they do not need to get in touch separately.

The service will also provide emergency dental treatment for patients who are not currently registered with an NHS dentist.

In addition, patients of previous Ramsey-based practice Smile Dental, who require urgent or emergency treatment, will be able to access care through the new unit until the practice resumes its routine services.

The opening had originally been planned for the previous week (November 2), but was postponed to allow minor repair work to be completed following the recent storms Austen and Boelo.

A Manx Care spokesperson said: ‘The opening of the dental unit in Ramsey will provide additional NHS dental capacity for the north and help us support people who are currently waiting to access dental care.

‘Although the opening of the Ramsey unit has unfortunately been delayed following damage to the building during the recent stormy weather, we are pleased that the service is now seeing patients from Monday, November 9.’