AN MP has come up with a list of around 150 "resting" dentists who he believes could be encouraged to re-don their gloves and masks to help plug the gap in NHS dentistry.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, said he had approached the General Dental Council which regulates dental professionals in the UK for a list of qualified dentists in his constituency.

He has passed the list to bosses at Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust in a bid to see if the organisation could tempt any of the dentists, who are no longer practising, to return to the profession.

Mr Farron, who met managers at the PCT, said: "I agreed to leave that list with the PCT as a positive local thing we could do, on the understanding they will now try to lure them back even the ones not currently practising."

Mr Farron said he also wanted to draw attention to the "growing concern" that private dental practices were poaching dentists away from the NHS.

The PCT's dental services implementation manager, David Tyson, said that if dentists were in the area, the organisation would be pleased to hear from them.

As previously reported, the PCT has plans for its own five-surgery dental centre in Kendal, although these have yet to be finally approved. If the centre does go ahead, recruitment would be important, Mr Tyson added.

See The Westmorland Gazette for the full story.