I am pleased to close the second debate for Scottish Labour. As before, I thank the Liberal Democrats for bringing this important debate to the chamber in their own time.

Having listened to the debate, I think that it is fair to say that NHS dentistry in Scotland is in crisis. Patients cannot get an appointment, dentists are leaving NHS practices, and our constituents and communities are suffering. I note, however, as Willie Rennie acknowledged, that when services are available, they are of high quality. Dentists are doing the best job that they can for their patients.

Despite what some members on the back benches think, this is a crisis and much of it is of the Government’s making. It should worry the Government that I do not think that a single member of the public really trusts it to be able to fix the situation, so it needs to demonstrate that it can take action that will fix it.

In the amendment, the cabinet secretary again goes for the blame everyone approach, rather than talk about the Government’s involvement. It is quite remarkable how often we have to go over that. To be honest, it is not surprising but, given that we have all talked about the information that we get in our inboxes from constituents, it is an insult to dentists and patients not to acknowledge some of the things that the Government has not put in place.

It is fair to say that it is a self-congratulatory SNP amendment that calls for Parliament to welcome the Government strategically prioritising dentistry access—after 17 years in power—and to thank dentists for their “continued commitment”. We all know from our inboxes that dentists stay in the NHS because of their commitment to it. It is little wonder that patients feel that they are being forced out of NHS dentistry and that they are unable to get an NHS dentist.

Of course, it is right that we acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on dentistry because of its face-to-face nature. We know that dentists have by no means recovered, but it would be entirely disingenuous to suggest that the problem is only a post-Covid one. Other members have mentioned the words of the chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish dental practice committee, which made me think, so I will quote them again. He said:

“the fundamentals of a broken system remain unchanged.

The Scottish Government have stuck with a drill and fill model designed in the 20th century.”

I know from what we have heard from the dental profession that it tried to help the Scottish Government to get this right. David Torrance, who is in the back row of the chamber, probably needs to listen to the dentists themselves, who say that there have been no changes to the model of care and that, despite recent changes in the payment system, NHS dentistry remains in dire straits, with a two-tier system becoming an increasing reality for patients. It feels like sticking plasters and will not cut it. That is what we are hearing from the dentists and the dentist professions.

I want to mention the oral cancer statistics that Willie Rennie gave, which are important facts that show why we must resolve the issue. I am running out of time, but I want to say that Claire Baker gave us excellent statistics that the members on the Government front benches should really look at. There is evidence from the COVID-19 Recovery Committee that private dentistry is not experiencing the same exit issues as NHS dentists. That is an important part of the inequalities that are happening.