Chamber
Plenary, 05 Sep 2002
05 Sep 2002 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
NHS Dental Services (Moray)
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 see her introduce, so early on, a debate on a topic that members can get their teeth into. In Margaret Ewing's abscess our hearts have grown fonder, but meantime we have tried to put the best floss on it.
That is enough of the cheap jokes. Although perhaps, given that we are talking about the decline in dentistry in the NHS in the north-east, they are entirely appropriate. The trouble is that we are trying to get dental health on the cheap and that simply does not work.
In the NHS in Grampian as a whole, we have half the number of dentists per head of population that Edinburgh has and a quarter of the number that there are in Manchester and, Dr Ewing advises me, in Cuba. In rural Aberdeenshire and Moray, matters are considerably worse.
I pose a few questions. If members were dentists, would they wish to work in an area in which they would have to work four times as hard as dentists in Manchester? Would they wish to work in an area in which the backlog of dental decay is likely to be large? Would they wish to work in the NHS when they could earn more, get more time to do a quality job and get some time off by working in the private sector?
To be fair, I acknowledge that initiatives have been taken. Investment is being made in community dental facilities, but it has proved impossible in my constituency to get dentists to work in them. We have had the bounty to bring in new staff after they graduate. One dentist of whom I am aware managed to recruit someone to their first appointment after graduation, but they failed to qualify for the bounty because more than a year had passed since they had qualified. The dentist coughed up the money to ensure that they got the member of staff.
Advertising in Finland has been conducted. Finland has too many dentists and we have too few, but even so we are still unable to recruit dentists from there. We are on a downhill disaster curve and things can only get worse. There is an economic risk to life in the area that NHS Grampian covers. Senior people are coming into companies in the north-east and finding that they cannot get their promised dental care. That will damage the reputation of the north-east's quality of living.
As an MSP I am extremely fortunate that I can get NHS dental care in Lothian, but I cannot get it in my constituency. We support Nora Radcliffe's suggestion of conducting NHS training in the north-east. I suggest that we follow the Australian model of encouraging graduates to go to the areas of greatest need. One of the ways in which we might think about doing that is by allowing the Executive to pay off graduates' student loans. There is a gap in dental care in the north-east and we must address it as an absolute priority.
That is enough of the cheap jokes. Although perhaps, given that we are talking about the decline in dentistry in the NHS in the north-east, they are entirely appropriate. The trouble is that we are trying to get dental health on the cheap and that simply does not work.
In the NHS in Grampian as a whole, we have half the number of dentists per head of population that Edinburgh has and a quarter of the number that there are in Manchester and, Dr Ewing advises me, in Cuba. In rural Aberdeenshire and Moray, matters are considerably worse.
I pose a few questions. If members were dentists, would they wish to work in an area in which they would have to work four times as hard as dentists in Manchester? Would they wish to work in an area in which the backlog of dental decay is likely to be large? Would they wish to work in the NHS when they could earn more, get more time to do a quality job and get some time off by working in the private sector?
To be fair, I acknowledge that initiatives have been taken. Investment is being made in community dental facilities, but it has proved impossible in my constituency to get dentists to work in them. We have had the bounty to bring in new staff after they graduate. One dentist of whom I am aware managed to recruit someone to their first appointment after graduation, but they failed to qualify for the bounty because more than a year had passed since they had qualified. The dentist coughed up the money to ensure that they got the member of staff.
Advertising in Finland has been conducted. Finland has too many dentists and we have too few, but even so we are still unable to recruit dentists from there. We are on a downhill disaster curve and things can only get worse. There is an economic risk to life in the area that NHS Grampian covers. Senior people are coming into companies in the north-east and finding that they cannot get their promised dental care. That will damage the reputation of the north-east's quality of living.
As an MSP I am extremely fortunate that I can get NHS dental care in Lothian, but I cannot get it in my constituency. We support Nora Radcliffe's suggestion of conducting NHS training in the north-east. I suggest that we follow the Australian model of encouraging graduates to go to the areas of greatest need. One of the ways in which we might think about doing that is by allowing the Executive to pay off graduates' student loans. There is a gap in dental care in the north-east and we must address it as an absolute priority.
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.