Chamber
Plenary, 05 Sep 2002
05 Sep 2002 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
NHS Dental Services (Moray)
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 issues that have led to the crisis in Moray. If young children have proper oral and dental care, they will not need to see a dentist other than for a check-up. A simple plan such as sending a birthday card from the dentist to every one-year-old child, as happens in the Highlands, will make parents aware of the need to register and will encourage them to do so, if we assume that there is someone for them to register with. Why not extend that scheme to include two and three-year-olds? Perhaps it should be rolled out across Scotland.
Toothbrushing in nurseries and primary schools does not seem to cost a lot but would make children aware of the importance of brushing their teeth, especially if they do not have proper support at home.
We need more trained dentists, dental hygienists and therapists, as Mary Scanlon said. I am not sure that a new dental hospital could be delivered—I do not know how much money the Liberal Democrats plan to commit to that in their manifesto—but I would like the minister to address the serious problem that is faced by the Glasgow dental hospital. It has a budget of £3.6 million, but that goes to the University of Glasgow, with only £2 million being passed to the dental school. The other £1.6 million is taken by the university for administration. I do not know the answer to that, but I think that it is a serious problem. The dental school is being asked to train more dentists—the number of students in the first year has risen from 70 to 77—which is to be welcomed, but the problem is that there are only 45 members of staff, as opposed to the 79 that there were 10 years ago. I think that it is wrong that £1.6 million is being creamed off by the university for administration and I urge the minister to examine that matter closely.
The problem of dental erosion will become increasingly serious. I do not want to be alarmist and describe the situation as a time bomb, but one study shows that the consumption of fizzy drinks by children has increased sevenfold in the past 30 years. The acid in fizzy drinks is corrosive and one of the primary causes of dental erosion, which is hugely costly to treat. Indeed, it can be treated only by some experts. As a result, should fizzy drinks be sold at schools and in vending machines? I think not.
I am happy to support other members' suggestions about training. It might be possible to have another training facility for hygienists and therapists and to extend the range of their work, as happens in the NHS.
Mary Scanlon mentioned that there is not a similar legal duty to register with a dentist as there is with a general practitioner. However, there is another problem. I believe that a child's registration with a dentist lapses after 18 months. What is the point of that? At the very least, a child's registration should continue until he or she becomes an adult. That simple step could again be taken without a great deal of cost.
I will address some of the deeper issues that have led to the crisis in Moray. If young children have proper oral and dental care, they will not need to see a dentist other than for a check-up. A simple plan such as sending a birthday card from the dentist to every one-year-old child, as happens in the Highlands, will make parents aware of the need to register and will encourage them to do so, if we assume that there is someone for them to register with. Why not extend that scheme to include two and three-year-olds? Perhaps it should be rolled out across Scotland.
Toothbrushing in nurseries and primary schools does not seem to cost a lot but would make children aware of the importance of brushing their teeth, especially if they do not have proper support at home.
We need more trained dentists, dental hygienists and therapists, as Mary Scanlon said. I am not sure that a new dental hospital could be delivered—I do not know how much money the Liberal Democrats plan to commit to that in their manifesto—but I would like the minister to address the serious problem that is faced by the Glasgow dental hospital. It has a budget of £3.6 million, but that goes to the University of Glasgow, with only £2 million being passed to the dental school. The other £1.6 million is taken by the university for administration. I do not know the answer to that, but I think that it is a serious problem. The dental school is being asked to train more dentists—the number of students in the first year has risen from 70 to 77—which is to be welcomed, but the problem is that there are only 45 members of staff, as opposed to the 79 that there were 10 years ago. I think that it is wrong that £1.6 million is being creamed off by the university for administration and I urge the minister to examine that matter closely.
The problem of dental erosion will become increasingly serious. I do not want to be alarmist and describe the situation as a time bomb, but one study shows that the consumption of fizzy drinks by children has increased sevenfold in the past 30 years. The acid in fizzy drinks is corrosive and one of the primary causes of dental erosion, which is hugely costly to treat. Indeed, it can be treated only by some experts. As a result, should fizzy drinks be sold at schools and in vending machines? I think not.
I am happy to support other members' suggestions about training. It might be possible to have another training facility for hygienists and therapists and to extend the range of their work, as happens in the NHS.
Mary Scanlon mentioned that there is not a similar legal duty to register with a dentist as there is with a general practitioner. However, there is another problem. I believe that a child's registration with a dentist lapses after 18 months. What is the point of that? At the very least, a child's registration should continue until he or she becomes an adult. That simple step could again be taken without a great deal of cost.
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.