NORTH Cornwall’s MP has called for the resignation of the county’s director of public health after criticising his "record of failure".

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, has said that Cornwall Council’s director of public health, Eunan O’Neill ‘should resign from his role with immediate effect’ following attempts to ‘dodge public scrutiny’ after blocking a debate surrounding the region’s NHS dental struggles.

The motion was brought forward on January 20, by Lib Dem Cllr. Rosie Moore (Wadebridge East and St Minver). The aim was to address the growing collapse of NHS dentistry across Cornwall. The motion called on Cornwall Council to "communicate" and "partner" with NHS England and the local Integrated Care Board to explore an innovative dental pilot at the Goods Shed in Wadebridge. However, having already been approved for debate and carrying the support of the Council Leader Cllr Leigh Frost, Cllr O’Neill argued that the matter had been 'adequately consulted'.

Mr Maguire says that Cllr. Moore's motion comes amidst a growing NHS Dental Health crisis in the Duchy, after only 30 per cent of adults and 50 per cent of children were able to see an NHS dentist there last year. Cornwall has only 38.2 dentists per 100,000 people, ranking it as the fourth lowest in England, according to figures obtained from Healthwatch Cornwall.

Commenting, Mr Maguire has described the move as ‘an outrageous attempt to shut down democratic scrutiny’.

He said: “A senior unelected official has blocked elected councillors from even debating the collapse of NHS dentistry and possible solutions, at a time when my North Cornwall constituents are in agony... pulling out their own teeth, or paying hundreds of pounds to go private because there is simply no NHS care available.

"The director claimed he had not been consulted on the pilot but I discussed it with him at length months ago. By inventing objections that are not even in the motion, and hiding behind procedural excuses, the Director of Public Health is shielding both himself and the ICB from any public accountability. His role is to protect public health, and instead he is trying to silence those trying to fix this crisis. On that basis, I believe he should resign from his role with immediate effect. We cannot keep accepting failure."

Cllr. Rosie Moore added: "I’m very disappointed that councillors were prevented from debating this motion after the first recommendation was incorrectly dismissed as ‘moot’. The motion focused on working with NHS England, the integrated Care Board and funding partners to explore practical, community-based initiatives like the model proposed by the Goods Shed in Wadebridge.

"NHS dentistry is one of the biggest concerns raised by Cornwall residents, and elected members should be able to openly discuss creative, partnership-based solutions to a crisis that has been building for years. Continuing to make little or no progress is just not an option."

Cornwall Council and Cllr O’Neill have been contacted for comment.