- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be an expansion of the consultant grades in dental specialities to ensure high quality training and to improve clinical practice.
Answer
The need for specialist dental services in Scotland is one issue within the remit of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Dental Workforce (SACDW). The number of dental specialists needed within hospital practice, community services and general dental services will continue to be monitored by SACDW.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that Ministers give full and detailed answers to all questions asked in parliamentary debates and whether, as part of its monitoring of questions, it monitors the number of questions asked further to questions asked in the course of debates.
Answer
In accordance with the Scottish Ministerial Code, Ministers are expected to be as open as possible with the Parliament, and they aim to respond in debate to points raised, as time permits. The Executive does not monitor the number of questions asked further to questions asked in the course of debates.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 52.4% of new entrants to the Dentists' Register who qualified overseas have undergone equally rigorous and extensive training as dental graduates in Scotland.
Answer
Entering the Dentists Register in the UK is not the same as working in the UK. Entry to the register does not guarantee entry to the UK or a work permit to work here. Home Office permission must still be granted and immigration criteria satisfied. Impending rule changes mean that registrations by overseas graduates were high last year and that the average figure of 9% is likely to drop in future.
In Scotland, 98.6% of General Dental Practitioners (GDP) trained in the UK, (91.3% in Scotland) 1% in the EC including Ireland and 0.4% trained overseas.
The Scottish Executive Health Department is pursuing policies aimed at retaining Scottish graduates in Scotland.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all dental therapists, dental nurses and dental hygienists will be trained within the environment of a dental school.
Answer
Many educational organisations are involved in the education and training of the professions complementary to dentistry. Colleges of further education in Scotland make a considerable contribution to the education and training of dental nurses and dental technicians, and Edinburgh Dental Institute has a training course for dental hygienists. Therefore, whilst the Scottish Executive encourage all members of the dental team to be trained in the same environment where possible, education will continue to be undertaken in these centres of educational excellence, working in close liaison with the two dental schools.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the budget and, where applicable, the additional budget for Dundee Dental Hospital will be ring-fenced to ensure that the hospital can meet targets set in the Dental Action Plan and the Report of the Scottish Integrated Workforce Planning Group and to ensure that the hospital will not be subject to any cutbacks as a result of the Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust's #19 million financial deficit.
Answer
Dundee Dental Hospital and School has defined budgets for the educational component of its activity. Resources both from the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council have increased in recent years over and above inflation. The Scottish Executive has no plans to reduce dental school allocations for education and will continue to allocate resources in line with present strategic plans.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address the current waiting times for treatment at the Glasgow Dental Hospital of (i) 71 weeks for oral medicine, (ii) 69 weeks for anxiety/hypnosis, (iii) 11 months for prosthodontics, (iv) 34 weeks for oral surgery, (v) 30 weeks for conservation, (vi) 22 weeks for child's dental health and (vii) 19 weeks for orthodontic treatment.
Answer
Reducing waiting is one of the Executive's most important objectives for the health service in Scotland. Health boards and NHS Trusts are responsible for providing efficient and responsive health services, including services relating to dental health.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether more funding will be allocated to dental hospitals to meet the increasing need for sedation services.
Answer
Additional resources have been allocated to both dental schools for 2000-01 to develop consultant-led sedation services primarily for the education and training of undergraduates and postgraduates.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the one Endodontic Specialist in Scotland is sufficient to meet the recommendations of the Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland.
Answer
Endodontics is the specialty of treatment of root canals. The majority of root canal treatment work is undertaken by primary care dentists, both in the community and in general dental practice, with over 140,000 such treatments undertaken annually in Scotland. Also, as those patients requiring specialist endodontic care are normally referred to a Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, Endodontic Specialists are not the sole supplier of this type of treatment.
The Scottish Executive is reviewing the role of all dental specialties and their contribution to future dental services in Scotland.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a Scottish Professions Allied to Medicines Educational Council would be the best option to ensure that the specialist and post-registration needs of all such professions are met.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's consultation paper Supporting Learning for the Professions Allied to Medicine invited responses by 29 September 2000. The responses to the consultation are currently under consideration.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address any problems in the recruitment and retention of physiotherapists.
Answer
The overall recruitment and retention of Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMs), which include physiotherapists remains healthy although there are some recognised difficulties in particular geographical areas and with some specialist posts.
The employment of physiotherapists is a matter for NHS Trusts.
