Question reference: S5W-20529
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 December 2018
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the inspection and regulation process in the rest of the UK covering all dental practices equally, for what reason a reported 30-35 non-NHS dental practices in Scotland are identified for inspection and regulation, while over 1,000 NHS dental practices are inspected to a more basic level.
Answer
Until April 2016 wholly private dental practices were not subject to any scrutiny or inspection. They are now subject to the same level of scrutiny and inspection as their NHS counterparts. Non-NHS dental practices, which provide only private services, meet the definition of an independent clinic and are therefore regulated (which includes inspection) by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). HIS will use the Combined Practice Inspection process which has been in use for all NHS general dental practices in Scotland since 1 January 2014.