Question reference: S5W-20530
- 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 for what reason over 1,000 NHS dental practices are reported to be exempt from the higher standard of Health Improvement Scotland inspection and enforcement.
Answer
NHS dental practices and practices with a combination of NHS and private work are regulated by the local health board. using the Combined Practice Inspection (CPI) checklist for regulation and inspection which has been in place since 1 January 2014. The CPI Checklist combines Health Board and Vocational Training inspection items and includes items from the National Standards for Dental Services. Healthcare Improvement Scotland now regulate wholly private dental practices and will use the CPI process. If HIS did not undertake inspections for wholly private dental practices, there would be no inspection regime in place for these providers because they are not affiliated to a health board.