A DENTIST from Old Colwyn feared a letter telling him he was to become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) was a tax demand.

Paul Leach, who treats children with special educational needs and disabilities, has been appointed a MBE after 35 years of service within North West Wales as part of King Charles III’s Birthday Honours list.

His citation references his particular line of work, stating: “Paediatric and special care dentist. For services to children with special educational needs and disabilities in North West Wales.”

“When I got the letter I thought it was a tax demand, as it was an official envelope,” he said.

“It was a real surprise and the hardest thing has been keeping quiet about it.”

“I do enjoy my job. I like going to work and I like the teamwork and meeting various people.

“It’s nice when you can sort patients’ problems out for them. I get satisfaction from being able to help. If I qualified again, I would do the same thing.”

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The married father-of-three gained his first post in the region in 1989, after going to school on the Isle of Man and then studying at Manchester University.

He has become known for treating children with special needs and disabilities, something he said happened organically.

“You sort of get a name for being able to do certain things,” he said.

Paul has developed and led the dental service for vulnerable children in North West Wales for almost 20 years, and is the only paediatric community specialist in North Wales.

Many of the children he sees have severe behavioural and medical problems.

He he has taken on many roles in his career, such as clinical governance, examiner, and teacher, and has helped lead a variety of courses to ensure the whole nursing team is up to date and share his passion and enthusiasm.

Paul also works a voluntary out-of-hours rota to ensure that unregistered patients can obtain treatment and pain relief, on average working one session a week.

His expertise also picks up a wide variety of medical problems, for example two oral carcinomas and one lymphoma in the last three years.

The most difficult special needs children are treated by Paul in theatre at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor; without this, those children would have to travel to Liverpool for treatment.

Now he is awaiting a date to receive his award from the King in London, and it’s not just him who is excited about the prospect.

“I’m looking forward to meeting the King, but I think my wife is looking forward to it more than me,” he said.

“She’s already looking for a new dress.”

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's director of primary care, Karen Higgins, said: "In a world where our population is aging and the focus is often on that area of health, it is lovely to see Paul being valued for his focus on our younger, more vulnerable patients and making sure they have equal access to high quality dental care.

“He truly deserves the honour.”