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-14890

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which universities offer dentistry undergraduate courses in Scotland, and what plans there are for new courses to be introduced.

Question reference: S6O-01923

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the social justice secretary has had with the health secretary regarding any disproportionate impact on households experiencing poverty, and any other social justice impacts, of the reported lack of NHS dental care provision in some parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14334

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Chief Dental Officer (CDO) advisory group, what work the group has undertaken, what the outcomes have been of this work, and whether the group has made any recommendations to the Scottish Government in relation to NHS Dental Services.

The CDO Advisory Group have met on four occasions from October 2022 to December 2022. The minutes from the Advisory Group workshops, and copies of all papers provided to the group, are publicly available and can be viewed online at: Updated 17/01 – CDO Advisory Group – Meeting Papers | Scottish Dental .

A working draft of a revised Determination I of the Statement of Dental Remuneration (NHS care and treatment items), which has been developed by the Scottish Government following the advice of Advisory Group members, is also available online at: dental-services-determination-i-working-draft/"> Reform of NHS Dental Services – Determination I Working Draft | Scottish Dental .

Question reference: S6W-14340

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines it has given to dentists regarding the welcoming of Ukrainian refugees into their services.

All Ukrainian displaced persons have the right to access free NHS dental care in Scotland. They are also entitled to register as a NHS patient with a General Dental Practitioner, depending on whether the practice is taking on new NHS patients.

For children and adults under the age of 26, exemption from NHS dental charges is automatically applied. For Ukrainian displaced persons aged 26 or over, dentists have been advised to select ‘Universal Credit’ and then ‘evidence not produced’ when submitting GP17 claim forms for payment. Guidance on this was issued to Health Boards on 6 April 2022: https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/nhs-scotland-services-ukraine.pdf .

Question reference: S6W-14309

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure for the £147.471 million allocated to Other Board Services and Miscellaneous Income as part of the line for Covid-19 Funding and Other Services (restated) in the draft Scottish Budget 2023-24.

Despite the UK Government stepping back from COVID funding from 2022-23, there remain COVID related pressures and costs across the system. The 2022-23 health budget provides for test and protect, PPE and the ongoing vaccination programme, including costs relating to delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations and the extended seasonal flu vaccination as well as staff, venues and storage. The £147.471 million represents the net of these costs once partially offset by income related to dental and miscellaneous services which is also included in this budget line.

Question reference: S6W-14350

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2023

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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-13449

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to ensure that it captures primary healthcare workforce data to inform policy-making and any service changes.

The Scottish Government see good accessible workforce data as a key tool for effective future planning within the Primary Healthcare Workforce. We have a number of ways in which we do this.

In General Practice, Public Health Scotland published workforce planning data through the General Practice Workforce Survey in November 2022 that gives us access to the latest General Practice workforce wte data, this is followed by the General Practice Workforce and Population Survey that gives us accurate headcount data across General Practice, published most recently in December 2022.

Workforce data on general dental practitioners is published by NES biannually, the latest data was published in December 2022.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery intends to publish a report on workforce planning for the eyecare workforce by end March 2023.

Reporting arrangements are in place to monitor progress of Health and Social Care Partnerships against their Primary Care Improvement Plans (PCIPs). This includes progress on establishing Multi-Disciplinary Teams. Further information is provided in our annual statistical publication that published in March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13422

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Reform of NHS Dental Services Survey, when a public consultation will take place on any proposed changes to sevices.

Question reference: S6W-13421

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what dental procedures (a) were available under the NHS in January 2017 and (b) are currently available under the NHS.

The Statement of Dental Remuneration has been amended over the time period since January 2017 and now. The list of treatments in January 2017 is reflected in Amendment 133 and the current list is described in 158. These can be viewed at dental-remuneration/"> Statement of Dental Remuneration | Scottish Dental .

In summary, the range of care and treatment is broadly similar in both versions, however, a significant reform was delivered in February 2022 (amendment 155) which aligned child and adult examination appointments through an enhanced fee.

Question reference: S6W-12892

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown of the number of (a) dentists and (b) dental care professionals registered as (i) UK, (ii) EU, and (iii) overseas domiciled, in each year since 2015.