General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 5 Rhagfyr 2024.
Colin Smyth
Llafur
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Public Health Scotland’s recent national health service dental monitoring report, which indicates that almost 40 per cent of adults in Dumfries and Galloway are not registered with an NHS dentist. (S6O-04076)
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has made available tailored grant funding, and NHS Dumfries and Galloway recently held a successful Scottish dental access initiative application, which will result in 2,000 new NHS registrations in Moffat. We are also funding dental emergency evening clinics for unregistered patients, which have been in operation for almost 18 months.
Officials are working closely with the board to ensure that measures are in place for appropriate staffing of the Gardenhill practice in Castle Douglas to support the provision of emergency and urgent care to unregistered patients and to provide routine dental care to a number of registered patients in priority groups.
Colin Smyth
Llafur
It is not just about adults; more than 20 per cent of children in Dumfries and Galloway are not registered with an NHS dentist, which are the worst figures in Scotland. The actions that the Minister has outlined are clearly not working, because the problem has been getting worse. Why is the crisis so bad in Dumfries and Galloway? Why is the action not making a difference? More important, what more will the Government do to tackle the crisis, before NHS dentistry becomes a thing of the past for far too many of my constituents?
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
Colin Smyth will recognise that, prior to Brexit, a large proportion of the dentists in Dumfries and Galloway and in other rural areas of Scotland came from European countries. I recently met the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, as well as my counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland, to talk specifically about how we can improve the recruitment of dentists in the United Kingdom—this is an issue not just in Scotland.
Colin Smyth will be pleased to recognise the important investment in dentistry that the Scottish Government has put into the budget for next year. I suggest that he supports the Scottish budget, so that we can continue the improvement.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
