A new £2.2 million dental school has opened in East Lancashire. The Oak House Dental Centre, adjacent to the Accrington Pals Health Centre in Paradise Street, Accrington, was opened by Chief Dental Officer Barry Cockcroft last month and aims to train 'home-grown' dentists for the future, with the idea that where students train they often end up staying in the area as practitioners.

It has four purpose-built NHS dental surgeries which are up and running in place of the old surgeries at Accrington Victoria Hospital site, and which act as a new base for the local NHS out-of-hours emergency dental service.

The partnership has set up a 'hub and spoke' dental school, with the University site in Preston acting as the main hub, while East Lancashire's new centre will be one of the 'spokes' placed in the heart of the local community.