The island’s dental waiting list has been dramatically cut in an initiative that will cost Manx Care an extra £700,000 a year.

With new contracts in place, it is hoped that everyone who wants an NHS dentist will be allocated one by the end of March.

Manx Care chief executive Teresa Cope told a Tynwald scrutiny committee that the waiting list had started with 6,000 patients but was now down to 1,500.

She said: ‘That will continue to reduce over the remainder of the financial year. The plans create a solution for everybody to be allocated by the end of March.’

Ms Cope told the social affairs policy review committee that it had taken three months to agree and implement the new contracts, which see dentists being offered an increased value for the unit of dental activity. It will cost Manx Care an extra £700,000 a year.

She said dentists had under-delivered under the old contract as it hadn’t been competitive for them to take on more NHS patients.

A tender exercise for the replacement of Grove Mount surgery will create more capacity in the north than there was even before that surgery closed, she added.

All previous NHS patients from Grove Mount will be transferred to the new provider, along with capacity being created for a further 900-plus patients.

Ms Cope said provision had been made in this financial year for the increased expenditure but that a recurring additional sum of around £700,000 would need to be factored in to budget planning each year.

A spokesperson said Manx Care said dental providers have agreed in advance to the number of new patients they could accept under the new contract.

Patients are allocated, and the practices will book their initial examinations by no later than March 31.

There is continuous monitoring to track progress and ensure patients are being scheduled.

A small proportion of patients no longer require care, remain uncontactable, or have left the Island.

The spokesperson added: ‘This approach ensures patients are not simply removed from the Manx Care list without a clear pathway to care. The goal is to provide access to NHS dental services as quickly and efficiently as possible.’

This summer there were 6,112 patients on the dental waiting list.

It was announced in August that a total of 5,695 will be allocated the NHS dental waiting list to be seen at a practice.

Manx Care said this marked a significant step forward in reducing waiting times for dental care in the island, and would reduce the waiting list immediately by more than 93%.

Under a new initiative at Hillside Dental Practice, which is run by Manx Care, a dentist has been seeing patients from the waiting list one morning every week.

Ms Cope said she was very grateful to the dental providers for their support and co-operation in changing over to the new contract and for their willingness to engage and improve dental services for patients in the island.