Chamber and committees

It is a priority to ensure that all patients are able to access NHS dental care.

We have provided over £150 million of financial support to date to maintain the capacity and capability of NHS dentistry and agreed further funding into the new year to address the cost of living crisis. From April 2022 we have re-introduced a system of fee per item payments that incentivises NHS dental teams to see patients. Additionally, from February 2022 we have also introduced an enhanced examination fee for both adults and children.

NHS registration is significantly higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK, with more than 95% of the population registered with a NHS dentist. Information on registering with a dentist can be found at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/nhs-services/dental/receiving-nhs-dental-treatment-in-scotland .

We communicated the action to reclaim surplus Covid reserves to be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities on 12 September 2022. We will continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts and further detail will be communicated later in the financial year. The detail will follow at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

IJBs were given a funding allocation in 2021-22 to support a range of Covid pressures. This was a ring fenced allocation specifically for Covid.

There have been a number of significant changes to Public Health policies in relation to Covid over the summer, resulting in the profile of Covid spend reducing significantly compared to when funding was provided to IJBs.

In response to this, we communicated the action to reclaim surplus Covid reserves to be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities. We will continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts and further detail will be communicated later in the financial year. The detail will follow at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

The Scottish Government values the important role of those working in Scotland’s third sector to tackle tough social issues at source. We recognise the challenges faced by the third sector in the current cost crisis and we will ensure the sector is not excluded from any financial support made available to the public or private sectors.

The Scottish Government is doing what it can with its limited powers to ensure people receive the help they need. We are already providing significant support for households to mitigate the impacts of the cost crisis. By the end of March 2023, we will have invested almost £3bn in a range of measures for households, supporting energy bills, childcare, health and travel, as well as social security payments that are either not available anywhere else in the UK or are more generous, such as the Scottish Child Payment.

The Scottish Government has developed a website as a ‘one stop shop’ to help those struggling with the cost of living crisis. The website provides information on the wide range of advice and financial support available to people to meet rising energy, housing and other costs. The new website address is http://gov.scot/costoflivingsupport

No data is collected on the return or disposal of medicines due to the difficult nature of quantifying and recording this information. Health Boards are responsible for ensuring unused medicines are safely disposed of, though are not required to record this data.

The information requested is not held centrally.

An estimate of the number of people with complex disabilities was published by the charity Sense in a short report in May 2022, which estimated that there were around 157,000 people in Scotland that could have complex disabilities, where complex disabilities were defined as a person having two or more of the following conditions: ‘deaf or hearing impairment’, ‘blind or vision impairment’, ‘learning disability’, ‘autism’. A link to the report is available here: https://www.sense.org.uk/about-us/statistics/complex-disabilities-in-scotland/

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11635 on‎ 14 November 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Public Health Scotland does not publish data at the level of detail requested. However, statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 March 2022 and can be found here: Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients 30 June 2022 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Both the Scottish Government and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are aware, and regret, that patients are experiencing longer than normal delays in accessing NHS care, including at the mesh removal service in Glasgow. Patients are, however, being seen, surgeries carried out, and concerted efforts are being made to reduce waiting times.

The reimbursement scheme established under the Transvaginal Mesh Removal (Cost Reimbursement) (Scotland) Act 2022 is concerned with the reimbursement of costs associated mesh removal surgery arranged by women privately, where such arrangements were made on or before 3 June 2022. The scheme has no function in relation to the commissioning by NHS Scotland of mesh removal surgery from independent providers.

Mesh removal surgery commissioned from independent providers by NHS Scotland, in the UK or elsewhere, is arranged under Health Boards’ general powers, and there is no time limit on such arrangements being made.