{"id":579506,"date":"2026-05-12T08:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/579506\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:25:09","slug":"new-greenock-dental-surgery-which-takes-on-nhs-patients-to-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/579506\/","title":{"rendered":"New Greenock dental surgery which takes on NHS patients to open"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Dr Usman Ullah&#8217;s new surgery, The Waterfront Clinic, is due to open in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk\/local-news\/greenock-news\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Greenock<\/a>&#8216;s Waterfront Retail Park this summer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The dentist says his development will provide high-quality care for the community and hopes it can help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk\/?ref=au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Inverclyde<\/a>, which has previously been dubbed a \u2018dental desert\u2019.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Dr Ullah\u2019s surgery was recently visited by Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West MP Martin McCluskey, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk\/news\/24913153.inverclyde-mp-martin-mccluskey-launches-dental-campaign\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">who launched a campaign two years ago calling for action on shortages of NHS dental places locally.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Dr Ullah said: &#8220;We are delighted to welcome Martin McCluskey MP to the site and appreciate his continued focus on improving access to NHS dentistry within Inverclyde.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;This development represents a major investment in local healthcare infrastructure and has been designed to provide modern, high-quality NHS dental care for the community for many years to come.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0&#8220;Our goal is simple &#8211; to increase access, reduce waiting pressures, and provide patients with a welcoming, modern environment where they can access the care, they need closer to home.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0&#8220;We know many residents have struggled to register with an NHS dentist in recent years and we hope this new facility will make a meaningful difference for individuals and families across Inverclyde.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0&#8220;We look forward to opening the doors of Waterfront Dental in Summer 2026 and welcoming patients from across the area.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  In October 2024, the Telegraph revealed that the shortage of dental services had become so acute that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk\/news\/24678317.inverclyde-patients-face-36-mile-trip-nhs-dentist\/?ref=ed_direct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">those who weren\u2019t signed up with an NHS dentist or couldn\u2019t afford to pay privately were forced into a 36-mile round trip to access treatment.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The already difficult position around accessing dental services was then exacerbated by the closure of mydentist in Greenock\u2019s George Square, before Ardgowan Dental Practice elected to cease NHS dentistry provision.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Martin McCluskey told the Telegraph that the opening of The Waterfront Clinic would help increase capacity for locals.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: \u201cAccess to NHS dentistry has been one of the biggest issues raised with me by local people and is an issue I\u2019ve long campaigned on.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Too many residents have struggled to get registered or secure timely appointments.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;It\u2019s fantastic to see real progress being made here at the Waterfront. This new clinic will make a meaningful difference by increasing capacity and ensuring more people can access the care they need.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;This is exactly the kind of investment our community needs, and I wish Dr Ullah and his team all the best in their efforts. I will continue to push for further improvements so that everyone can access an NHS dentist when they need one.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Waterfront Clinic in Greenock will provide a wide range of NHS dental services and has confirmed it will accept new NHS patients.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  As Inverclyde has been designated a \u2018dental desert\u2019, the dentists were able to apply for financial assistance from the Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI).\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The scheme was set up to provide grants for practices looking to locate in areas with dentist shortages.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The development marks a significant milestone in efforts to strengthen local healthcare infrastructure and improve outcomes for patients across Inverclyde.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Waterfront Dental expects to begin accepting NHS patient pre-registrations ahead of opening.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Further details on how residents can register their interest, opening dates and service availability will be released in due course through the clinic\u2019s official communication channels.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Usman Ullah&#8217;s new surgery, The Waterfront Clinic, is due to open in Greenock&#8216;s Waterfront Retail Park this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-579506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}