A LEADING councillor will look into making dental care a higher health priority across Cumbria as part of new council commissioning powers.

Cumbria country council is now working more closely with the NHS, a move which would involve the top tier authority acting as the lead-commissioner on behalf of both organisations for some services.

Speaking at a meeting of the full council, Coun Patricia Bell, who holds the Health and Care Services portfolio, described the issue as a “really important area.”

She added: “As we move forward to develop independent care communities, it feels that there are two big areas that are left out: one is dentistry; and the other is the matter of sight – and probably there are others too.”

Coun Bell was responding to a question from fellow Lib Dem Stan Collins who urged the council to focus more on tackling the problem.

He said: “There is increasing evidence that poor dental health is related to and may even be cause of a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke and Parkinson’s.

“Could I ask the cabinet member to bear in mind the work that is going on in future commissioning work that we get the dental health that this area needs because it has poor dental health?”