MORE than 3,000 people in York are on a waiting list for an NHS dentist, according to a health boss.

Penny Jones, acting chief executive of Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT), said in a letter to City of York Council leader Steve Galloway that 3,085 people from the city were currently on a list waiting for an NHS dentist.

The thousands of people waiting for dental care on the NHS have been placed on a database set up by the PCT last October, so people could be considered for places rather than having to ring round surgeries themselves.

Council leader Steve Galloway said the amount of people in York on the list seemed "very high".

In a letter to Ms Jones, he wrote: "Your revelation that there are currently 3,085 York residents on the waiting list for assignment to an NHS dentist does cause me some concern.

"This does seem a very high figure for a city the size of York, and one wonders how this compares with similar communities elsewhere."

The Press's report this week of 11-year-old Katie Brown, who had to wait nearly six days for emergency dental treatment, was "likely to increase concerns", he said.

NHS dentistry in Britain went through a major shake-up in April with the introduction of controversial new contracts which were handled by PCTs rather than the Department of Health.

The Press reported in March how 11 of the area's dental practices had refused to sign the new contracts, leaving thousands of people without access.

But Ms Jones said 6,256 people had been found a dentist since the database had been set up, of which 5,027 were from the York area. That left 4,050 people still waiting, of which the 3,085 were from York. The PCT still had 8,000 dental places to deliver.

"It is not possible to say how long a person will remain on the dental database before being allocated to a dentist, as this does depend on the oral health needs of those being allocated," said Ms Jones.

"On average, where a practice is accepting new patients, they will take on 30 to 40 new patients each week.

"I would like to reassure you that Selby and York PCT is committed to improving access to NHS dental care to meet the needs of the local population.

"We are confident the expansion plans we have in place will ensure that in the future anyone in the Selby and York PCT area who wishes to access an NHS dentist will be able to do so."