General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 21 Tachwedd 2024.
Martin Whitfield
Llafur
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times for dental extractions in rural national health service board areas. (S6O-03998)
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
Any long wait for surgery is highly regrettable. However, it is important to note that the overwhelming Majority of NHS dental care is delivered in a primary care setting.
We are working with health boards to develop detailed annual delivery plans to support waiting list reductions and improve productivity. We continue to target resources to ensure that those who have been waiting longest are treated as soon as possible.
Martin Whitfield
Llafur
The results of a freedom of information request made to NHS health boards reveal a failure to deliver adequate dental care across Scotland. In NHS Dumfries and Galloway, children wait an average of 42 weeks, those in NHS Ayrshire and Arran wait for 20 weeks, and NHS Lothian has seen waiting times rise by almost 300 per cent since 2019.
The NHS is an emanation of the state, and article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear that every child has a right to the
“highest attainable standard of health”
and access to essential care. What is the Scottish Government’s defence of its failure to live up to that human right?
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
I recognise that the waiting lists for young children are far too long. I have visited the dental hospital in Glasgow to see what work it is doing to improve throughput and the work that it is doing with health boards. I also met the British Dental Association Scotland last week and listened to its concerns. As I noted in my first answer, we expect health boards to deliver annual delivery plans to clearly set out how they will address long waits across all specialties, including paediatric dentistry.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
