Seòmar agus comataidhean

I can speak only from my experience of having visited a couple of public dental services. They are being innovative in the work that they do, such as providing the anaesthesia to do operations or extractions in a non-theatre location. They are looking at what they can do. A number of questions have been asked in the chamber about how we retain university graduates in NHS dentistry services, and we are looking at how we can provide support to encourage people to join the PDS.

That is a really important point, and I am happy to take it away and consider it. I agree that we have to work closely with third sector organisations that support health settings. I will take that point away, and we will add it to the work that we need to do on access, specifically for young children.

Yes.

I thank Paul Sweeney for that question, as I recognise the picture that he is painting. We have to recognise, though, that dental practices are businesses, and dentists can make the decisions that they feel are appropriate in order to run them. However, my team and I are absolutely focused on ensuring that we put the right investment into the right places in NHS dentistry in Scotland to ensure that people do not have to make that very difficult choice.

Paul Sweeney raises some really interesting points. I was completely shocked when I saw the pictures of the gravestones in Glasgow with the stickers on them. I have referenced the museum that I worked in that was surrounded by a graveyard, and there are many other old graveyards across Argyll and Bute. In my role, having looked at the regulations, I have to admit that, when I visit graveyards in Argyll and Bute, I look at them with completely different eyes.

In order to ensure that we have very good burial regulations, we have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders—that is one of the regulations’ strengths. It is important that we recognise the cultural side, too, and inspectors are part of that. They ensure that burial authorities, which are likely to be local authorities in the main, are following the right procedures, and appropriate ones for what Paul Sweeney described as a key part of our culture in Scotland. The regulations and the inspection regime will ensure that we and the burial authorities have much better understanding and knowledge of what is appropriate.

We are clear in the regulations that, if a local authority is looking at a specific graveyard, it needs to publicise that as best it can, whether that is through social media or in newspapers, to ensure that people know that it is likely that it will be coming to inspect the graveyard. A lot of that should already be clear in the regulations.

Thank you, convener. I will simply move the motions and propose that the committee recommends that the regulations be approved.

Motions moved,

That the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommends that the Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [draft] be approved.

That the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee recommends that the Burial and Cremation (Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [draft] be approved.—[Jenni Minto]

Motions agreed to.

Thank you. I recognise what you are talking about in your question. I used to manage a museum that was located in a former church surrounded by gravestones and I remember the distress caused for some people when local authorities went there to ensure that the gravestones and memorials were safe. That absolutely comes under not just the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, but the Occupiers’ Liability (Scotland) Act 1960, which ensure that employees of local authorities are given the correct protections when they are at work.

The guidelines in the regulations tie into the best practice that is already happening. I recognise that some local authorities might have concerns, but additional guidance was brought in in 2019 after the tragic loss of a young boy in Glasgow. Work was done across the board to bring in local authorities and ensure that they recognised the importance of that work. Local authorities should have an established memorial safety inspection programme, and making safe should be part of their regular work anyway.

I believe that what we are asking for is proportionate. I also believe that all the appropriate people and parties have been consulted and informed about the change.

I apologise for the slight delay in my arrival, and I thank the committee for shifting your agenda to accommodate that.

Thank you for the opportunity to return to the committee to provide an update on NHS dental services. When we last met, the Scottish Government was preparing for the introduction of significant reforms to the NHS dental payment system. I am pleased to confirm that that reform was successfully delivered, as planned, on 1 November 2023, with the introduction of a realistic package of fees for NHS dentists to better reflect the market cost of providing NHS services. The draft budget, which was announced last week, reinforces our commitment to the sector, with a 15 per cent increase in funding for primary care dental services planned for 2025-26.

The reforms have also introduced a number of clinical benefits for dentists and patients alike. The system is now more focused on preventative care, reflecting modern dentistry, and offers more clinical discretion to practitioners in a less bureaucratic environment, although I recognise that we could make further progress on that.

The primary aim of reform was to incentivise dentists to provide more NHS care and, in turn, to support patient access. One year on, the latest official statistics show that almost 4 million courses of treatment were delivered to patients between the introduction of the reforms and the end of September 2024. That demonstrates that the sector has been sustained and that high volumes of patient access are being delivered in the new system. It also reflects the conversations that my officials and I have had with dental stakeholders, who have reported a largely positive response to reform. However, I am acutely aware that localised access issues remain, and I am clear that payment reform is only the first step in ensuring the sustainability of NHS dental services.

We continue to make a range of additional financial support available to the more challenging areas of Scotland, while actively considering the long-term actions that are required to improve patient access, including those on workforce and governance. I stress that there are a number of complexities involved in addressing recruitment and access challenges. The issues that we face are not Scotland specific, and there is no short-term solution. However, I recently met the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and my counterpart in Wales to discuss the actions that are required to improve international recruitment pipelines, and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the UK to find solutions.

In line with our programme for government commitment, we will continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the sector to monitor the impact of reform over the remainder of this parliamentary session to ensure sustained and improved access to NHS dentistry for the people of Scotland.

We have worked closely with Public Health Scotland to ensure that we have robust methods for knowing how many people are getting dental treatment. It is very important that we recognise the increase from the first figures that we have had—the 4 million courses of treatment. We are also gathering information on preventative care and improvements in that respect. For example, we know that there have been 1.7 million preventative care appointments in dentistry.

However, as I highlighted in my introductory remarks, we recognise that there are issues in certain areas of Scotland. Ninety-five per cent of the population are registered with dentists, but I recognise that, in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway, the figure is in the mid-60s, so there is work to do. That said, our work on payment reform has been important in stabilising the situation with dentistry and has allowed us to look at specific areas where we need to do more work, whether they be specific areas of Scotland or areas such as employment, workforce and governance.