- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 31 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of installing the automatic ticket barriers at railway stations in Edinburgh and Glasgow and who met the installation costs.
Answer
The automatic ticket gates atEdinburgh Waverley, Haymarket and Glasgow Queen Street are being leased by FirstScotRail. The lease costs are in the order of £0.5 million per annum over 10 yearswhich includes installation and operational costs. The increase in fares revenuecollected as a result of these gates is significantly in excess of these costs andhas resulted in a substantial reduction in the franchise payment to First ScotRail.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 31 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many rail vehicles are leased from (a) Angel Trains, (b) Porterbrook and (c) HSBC Rail and by whom they are leased.
Answer
With respect to the ScotRailFranchise the following vehicles are leased from the Rolling Stock Leasing companies;
(a) Angel Trains – 144 vehicles.
(b) Porterbrook – 283 vehicles.
(c) HSBC Rail – 291 vehicles.
All vehicles are subject to aleasing agreement between First ScotRail and the Rolling Stock Leasing Company.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many citizens use dentures as (a) full or (b) partial replacement for their own teeth.
Answer
The UK Adult Dental HealthSurvey (1998) reported that 20% of adults had both natural teeth and dentures,and that 18% had no natural teeth.
Self-reported informationin the most recent Scottish Health Survey (2003) indicates that an estimated 7%of females and 5% of males in Scotland have no natural teeth.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that 18% of all adults in Scotland have no natural teeth, that 21% have partial dentures and that 39% of the population need to access denture services.
Answer
I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-25797 on 24 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive who in Scotland makes and fits dentures and how it expects amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 will affect the making and fitting of dentures.
Answer
There are technicians who arecurrently making and fitting dentures, but this practice is illegal. Legally, denturesare fitted by dentists and made by dental technicians to the dentist’s specification.
However, a new registered professional– a clinical dental technician – will, under the new legislation to be made laterthis year under the Dentists Act 1984 as amended, be able to make and fit dentures.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been officially recorded in relation to the manufacture, supply and fitting of dentures by non-NHS denturists in each of the last five years.
Answer
No informationis available on this. The making and fitting of dentures by a dental technicianis illegal as only dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists maycurrently undertake the practice of dentistry. There is no formal mechanism forcomplaints by patients regarding the illegal practice of denturism.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what training programmes are available in Scotland to allow practising denturists to register with the General Dental Council to continue to make and fit dentures; how much these training programmes cost and how long it takes to complete the courses, and how many denturists will be affected by amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 due to be introduced in July 2006.
Answer
Only dentists, dental hygienistsand dental therapists can currently undertake the practice of dentistry andtraining programmes are in place for them. The General Dental Council iscurrently working with educational providers on additional training for dentaltechnicians who wish to pursue clinical dental technician roles. There is noreliable information available on the number of denturists currently practisingillegally.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the Association for the Promotion of Denturism’s statement that the independent denture supply sector is “the one dental sector which is not currently in trouble” and that “due to the rise in tooth decay and the difficulty many are experiencing in seeing a dentist, numbers of full or partial dentures are set to rise steeply in the next few years”.
Answer
Declining trends in totaltooth loss indicate that the number of full dentures required in future islikely to fall considerably rather than to rise.
As more people retain somenatural teeth into older age, the complexity of treatment required willincrease. Restoration of missing teeth is likely to include a range of potentialtreatments, including partial dentures, bridgework or implants. Therefore,there is no clear indication of whether the number of people with partialdentures will rise or fall.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has carried out on the effect of amendments to the Dentists Act 1984 on the manufacture, supply and fitting of dentures in Scotland and whether any such analysis has been, or will be, made publicly available.
Answer
No assessment was made of the possible impact of the amendments to the
Dentists Act 1984 on the makingand fitting of dentures by a dental technician, as such practice is illegal.
The Dentists Act 1984was amended in 2005 to provide for the future regulation of further professionalscomplementary to dentistry, in addition to the present professionals regulatedby the General Dental Council, i.e. dentists, dental therapists and dental hygienists.One of the new professionals for which regulation will be introduced shortly isthe clinical dental technician, who will be able to make and fit dentures onceregistered. At the same time regulation will also be introduced for dentaltechnicians, dental nurses and orthodontic therapists. The new amendments tothe 1984 act were made in the interests of patient safety and to enable thesestaff to make an increasing contribution to the dental care of patients.
- Asked by: Tommy Sheridan, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Socialist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what waiting lists exist in respect of the supply of dentures across Scotland.
Answer
Information on waiting listsfor the supply of dentures is not collected centrally.
