It is becoming increasingly clear that the Western Isles Health Board isn't up to the job. Maggie Fraser, the Board's "communications manager", should realise that she won't be able to hold the floodgates by moaning about the fact that one dentist retired and another left the island in 2014. We don't want to hear any more whingeing or expressions of hope. No more excuses. We want a date set by which NHS dental registrations will resume for everyone who wants them. The Western Isles is the ONLY health board area in Scotland where people who want to register right away as NHS dental patients are being told we can't. In 2004 the chief executive of the WI Health Board, Murdo MacLennan, was sacked for "dysfunctional management". In 2007, WI Health Board chief executive Laurence Irvine was sacked for "irregularities" on his CV. Curiously the Board by that time had managed to run up a deficit of £3.4 million. The Scottish Parliament's audit committee reported that there had been serious failures in the running of NHS Western Isles and in particular that there had been "a failure year after year to have in place adequate financial controls". WHAT HAS CHANGED? Very little. In 2010 a huge dental centre was built in Stornoway at a cost of £4.6 million. Even today, it houses a large number of staff and a great deal of equipment, while thousands of residents aren't even allowed to register as NHS patients. That is an absolute disgrace. Under its chief executive Gordon Jamieson, the Western Isles Health Board obviously isn't up to its job any more than it was in 2004 or 2007. The dentistry failure here - this major public health issue - cannot be solved by the Health Board. We know they are the biggest whingers out, but if they'd wanted to solve this problem they would have done it years ago. They would have banged on the table in Edinburgh if necessary. They would have stood up for people on the Western Isles and ensured that we got our RIGHT under the NHS system - our RIGHT to register without delay as NHS dental patients. The Board members chose to do nothing. Shona Robison, the Cabinet Secretary in the Scottish Government who is responsible for the NHS in Scotland, needs to ensure that action is taken without delay. As for Gordon Jamieson, he should get what his two predecessors got: the order of the boot.