Question reference: S6W-14350
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 26 January 2023
-
Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in increasing the number of patients accessing NHS dental care in West Lothian, following the reintroduction of a system of fee per item payments in an attempt to incentivise NHS dental teams to see patients.
Answer
Information on dental activity is not held at a West Lothian level. Public Health Scotland presently publish information on activity at a national level and this shows that over 1.6 million NHS examination appointment were completed between April and October 2022, with an average of more than 300,000 course of treatment per month.
However, the most recent participation statistics, which measure the number of registered patients who have had contact with a NHS dentist over a two year period, are available at a Lothian level and show that we are on the road to recovery. Participation statistics for Lothian shows that as at 30 September 2022, 432,249 people in Lothian had contact with a NHS dentist, compared to 372,513 as at 31 March 2022. This means there has been an increase of 59,736 people accessing NHS dental services in Lothian between March and September 2022.