Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-01098

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals each NHS dental hospital has received in each year since 2014-15.

Validated information on referrals to NHS dentals hospitals is not held centrally.

However the member may find it useful to know that information relating to outpatient activity including total number of attendances by NHS Board and location of treatment can be found in the Acute Hospital Activity publication using the link below.

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/4991/table-1-outpatient-activity-consultant-led.xlsx.

Question reference: S6W-00961

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on providing vouchers for one free NHS dental check-up for new mothers that can be redeemed after the baby’s first birthday if the mothers were unable to access this service before the birthday because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-00858

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps have been taken to ensure that people can access NHS dental treatment, and what estimate it has made of the number of people waiting for appointments.

The Scottish Government has recently announced a suite of measures to continue to support NHS dentistry, including a vital funding package of up to £5M for improved ventilation in dental premises, and an extension of free PPE for the dental sector, which from July will increase by up to 50%. This builds on the continued phased remobilisation of NHS dental services, ensuring that as many patients can be seen within the current set of infection, protection and control measures required for the safe operation of dental treatment.

NHS dental services are largely provided by independent dental contractors. Information on appointments is held by each individual dental practice.

Question reference: S6W-00812

Asked by: Neil Gray, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many 18- to 25-year-olds it estimates will be eligible for free NHS dental charges in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency.

Question reference: S6W-00373

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it recognises dental care as part of preventative healthcare, and, if so, how it will ensure that cost is not a barrier to receiving adequate healthcare.

Question reference: S6W-00374

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people in every community can access NHS dentistry.

Question reference: S6W-00274

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what charges will be removed from dental services, and when they will be removed.

The removal of all dental charges for NHS dental treatment is a Scottish Government manifesto commitment and will take place in the lifetime of this parliament.

As part of the 100 Days Commitment the Scottish Government, young people with care experience are to be exempted from NHS dental charges. This commitment has now been widened to include all young people between 18 and 25 years of age (inclusive).

Question reference: S6W-00272

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS dental practices have a limit of 10 appointments each day.

Dental practices are allowed to see as many patients as they safely can whilst ensuring that they adhere to current Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidance. The number of patients that a dental practice will see each day is based upon a risk assessment which takes account of factors such as the local environment, the type of procedure being undertaken and the urgency of the procedure.

NHS dental practice have not been set a limit of seeing 10 patients per day. PPE is being provided to dental practices on the PPE based upon providing care to 10 NHS patients per day per operational treatment room. The number of treatment rooms varies significantly across dental practices with an average of three treatment rooms per dental practice nationally. This PPE is funded by Scottish Government, and at no cost to the dental practice.

Question reference: S6W-00273

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out regarding whether NHS dentistry patients have been placed at a disadvantage compared with those receiving private treatment because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with NHS Boards and dental practices to ensure that patients receive the best possible NHS care subject to the constraints placed upon the sector during the period of the Covid pandemic.

At the start of the pandemic a comprehensive network of urgent dental care centres was established to ensure continuity of emergency dental care services. A carefully managed and evidence based process of gradually reintroducing routine dental care culminated in the availability of the full range of NHS dental services from 1 st November 2020. Private dental services are required to mirror these arrangements.

Question reference: S6F-00091

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2021

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported backlog of NHS dental appointments for children and young people.