THE government minister responsible for dentists is coming to the region to address a city's shortage.

Rosie Winterton, Minister of State at the Department of Health, agreed to visit York after the city's Labour MP Hugh Bayley called for government action because a number of families had written to him saying they could not get an NHS dentist.

There are no NHS dental practices accepting new patients in the city and two practices are withdrawing from the NHS, forcing patients to join a private payment scheme if they wish to continue receiving treatment at their surgery.

Mr Bayley has made a number of proposals to Ms Winterton on how to solve the shortage.

One suggestion he made was the creation of a school of dentistry at the York/Hull medical school.

Mr Bayley said: "I asked Rosie Winterton to come to York to meet the health authorities to discuss how best to use the extra £65m which Labour has invested in the NHS dental budget, to make sure that everyone in York gets a dentist.

"Immediate steps need to be taken to dissuade current dentists from turning their backs on the NHS and to recruit more dental hygienists and dental nurses to reduce the pressures on dentists. We also need to look at pay and conditions of dentists and the possibility of recruiting suitably qualified dentists from abroad."

Mr Bayley has held meetings with the Strategic Health Authority and the York and Selby NHS Primary Care Trust to discuss the matter.

The scale of the problem came to national attention when hundreds queued for hours when a surgery opened in New Queen Street, Scarborough, in February. A £2m scheme will see 11,000 more patients in North Yorkshire treated on the NHS during the next four years.