Chamber
Plenary, 05 Sep 2002
05 Sep 2002 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
NHS Dental Services (Moray)
Part of my constituency lies in Moray, but the problems of a lack of dental services, or a lack of access to dental services, are acute throughout the north-east. The seriousness of the problem is not in doubt, as Margaret Ewing has demonstrated.
We should commend the efforts of Grampian NHS Board and the Scottish Executive in measures such as the golden hello and the attempts to recruit salaried dentists—not only in Dr Gray's but, in years gone by, in Aberdeen and other parts of Grampian. However, those efforts come up against the underlying problem of there simply not being enough dentists, full stop. Margaret Ewing highlighted the age profile in the profession—a profile that means that the problem will get even worse.
Part of the problem has been that professional bodies, when projecting the number of training places required, have failed to realise that most professions are now gender balanced. If half of their professionals are female, the bodies will have to factor in the career breaks required for child bearing and child rearing. That may sound sexist. I hope that, in years to come, either parent will take the career break for child-rearing purposes. However, we are not there yet.
Even if we had enough dentists, the issue would arise of whether they would choose to practise in the NHS. The way in which NHS dentists are treated and remunerated has serious effects and will have to be considered carefully.
One thing that will have to happen if we are to meet the requirement for dental practitioners in the north-east is that dental training places will have to be provided in the north-east. If people have completed a university course and graduated, have done vocational training, have committed themselves to accommodation, and have built up social networks, they will tend to stay where they are. To get equity of access to dental services, we will have to train more dentists and ensure that some of those training places are in the north-east.
It is great to have Margaret Ewing back. I thank her for raising an extremely important issue and I hope that we will hear positive answers from the minister. Many of these questions require long-term answers, but we have to make a start now.
We should commend the efforts of Grampian NHS Board and the Scottish Executive in measures such as the golden hello and the attempts to recruit salaried dentists—not only in Dr Gray's but, in years gone by, in Aberdeen and other parts of Grampian. However, those efforts come up against the underlying problem of there simply not being enough dentists, full stop. Margaret Ewing highlighted the age profile in the profession—a profile that means that the problem will get even worse.
Part of the problem has been that professional bodies, when projecting the number of training places required, have failed to realise that most professions are now gender balanced. If half of their professionals are female, the bodies will have to factor in the career breaks required for child bearing and child rearing. That may sound sexist. I hope that, in years to come, either parent will take the career break for child-rearing purposes. However, we are not there yet.
Even if we had enough dentists, the issue would arise of whether they would choose to practise in the NHS. The way in which NHS dentists are treated and remunerated has serious effects and will have to be considered carefully.
One thing that will have to happen if we are to meet the requirement for dental practitioners in the north-east is that dental training places will have to be provided in the north-east. If people have completed a university course and graduated, have done vocational training, have committed themselves to accommodation, and have built up social networks, they will tend to stay where they are. To get equity of access to dental services, we will have to train more dentists and ensure that some of those training places are in the north-east.
It is great to have Margaret Ewing back. I thank her for raising an extremely important issue and I hope that we will hear positive answers from the minister. Many of these questions require long-term answers, but we have to make a start now.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid):
SNP
I ask members to move along and clear the chamber. I also remind those who wish to speak in the debate that they should press their request-to-speak buttons ...
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises that the provision of NHS dental services in Moray has reached crisis point; finds it unacceptable that residents of Moray now...
Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
I thank everyone who signed the motion. I am glad to see such a huge interest in Moray. I particularly welcome Nora Radcliffe, because although Keith is not ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
I remind members that the debate is specific to Moray, so I will be listening for some geographic or service links to Moray in members' speeches.
Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD):
LD
Part of my constituency lies in Moray, but the problems of a lack of dental services, or a lack of access to dental services, are acute throughout the north-...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
I, too, am delighted to see Margaret Ewing back. If I may say so, Margaret looks very well. It is nice to see her back in her stride, as feisty as usual, for...
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
I, too, welcome Margaret Ewing back to the chamber. I am pleased that she had the first question of question time and opened today's members' business debate...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
As of now I would be grateful if the speeches were kept to under three minutes.
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP):
SNP
I say very well done to Margaret Ewing for securing a debate on this important topic. It is good to be able to add my welcome back to her. It is also good to...
Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD):
LD
I congratulate Margaret Ewing on keeping the subject of access to NHS dental care on the agenda.We have heard a lot of statistics and I want to throw in a fe...
Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP):
SNP
I congratulate my colleague Margaret Ewing on her initiative in leading this important debate. I hope that the minister will address the problems in Moray as...
Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I congratulate Margaret Ewing on securing this important debate. I welcome her back to the Parliament—she is back with a bang. SNP parliamentary group meetin...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP):
SNP
In an entirely impartial and unbiased way, I warmly congratulate Margaret Ewing on her excellent exposition of the topic. I will address some of the deeper i...
The Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (Mrs Mary Mulligan):
Lab
I, too, join members in welcoming Margaret Ewing back to the chamber. It is great to see her and I look forward to debating many other issues with her. Howev...
Mr Rumbles:
LD
Two years ago, in the initial debate on the matter, I said that the target of 120 dentists in the dental action plan was not a great one to achieve. In fact,...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
One hundred and twenty dentists is an achievable target. Instead of simply increasing that number, we need to find out how to retain those people in Scotland...
Maureen Macmillan:
Lab
Will the minister consider giving more support to training practices in the Highlands? More training practices being in receipt of support would attract new ...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
I will come back to that point in a moment.We are also able to offer postgraduate vocational training places for all Scottish graduate dentists. Moreover, to...
Mary Scanlon:
Con
Does the minister acknowledge that Mike Rumbles's suggestion that there should be a new dental school in Aberdeen would be extremely difficult to implement, ...
Mrs Mulligan:
Lab
As I said, we must consider what we have at the moment and decide how we can use it in the best possible way. By ensuring that students leave the dental hosp...
Meeting closed at 17:56.