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NHS general dental services are regulated under Section 25 of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978 and the NHS (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2010. The professional regulation of dentists is specifically reserved to the UK Government by The Scotland Act 1998. The General Dental Council (GDC) has UK-wide statutory responsibility for safeguarding the public by maintaining the register of dentists who are qualified and competent to work in the UK.

The GDC also regulates, dental nurses, dental technicians clinical dental technicians, dental hygienists, dental therapists and orthodontic therapists. However the legislation governing the regulation of dental nurses, dental technicians, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists is devolved to the Scottish Parliament as the groups were regulated following The Scotland Act 1998.

As part of normal workforce planning arrangements, the Scottish Government keeps under regular review the future needs for the NHSScotland dental workforce.

Following extensive analytical work undertaken jointly by NHS Education for Scotland and National Services Scotland, as published in their bi-annual report Dental Workforce Report – September 2012, and taking into consideration advice from the Chief Dental Officer for Scotland, the Scottish Government has agreed to reduce the number of funded dental student places by 17 for the 2013-14 academic year.

NHS general dental services (GDS) and all dental practices which provide any GDS are subject to inspection and monitoring and there are very few dental practices in Scotland which do not provide some NHS care. However, Dental practices in Scotland which provide only private treatment are not subject to regulation at this time.

All dental practitioners are regulated by the General Dental Council (GDC). The professional regulation of dentists is reserved to the UK Government by the Scotland Act 1998. The GDC has UK-wide statutory responsibility for safeguarding the public by maintaining the register of dentists who are qualified and competent to work in the UK. The GDC also regulates; dental nurses, dental technicians, clinical dental technicians, dental hygienists, dental therapists and orthodontic therapists.

Network Rail is required to comply with all applicable legislation, including access, at railway crossings.

Access to Railway Crossings is a matter for the Infrastructure Manager, which includes Network Rail, Port Authorities, Heritage Railway Companies, etc., that own and operates them, and the Office of Rail Regulation.

The public have rights of access to all public level crossings; however access to private user-worked crossings is restricted to the authorised users only.

When applicants apply for NHS board appointments, they do so in confidence and on the understanding that their personal information will not be released unless they are appointed.

Overseas graduates from any UK, including Scottish, dental school may apply for dental Vocational Training (VT) places in Scotland. All overseas graduates are subject to United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) eligibility criteria, and one overseas Scottish graduate in 2013 has secured a VT place, subject to satisfactory completion of UKBA requirements.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

19 July 2013

Index Heading: Health and Social Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many dental practices there are and how many are (a) funded by the NHS and (b) wholly private.

(S4W-16109)

Michael Matheson: There are 1,064 dental practices in Scotland which have at least one dentist providing NHS general dental services.

Information on the number of wholly private dental practices is not held centrally.

Source: ISD Scotland.

The dental services budget for each of the years in question is provided in the table below and is also published on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/18127/Documents.

Note: This figure is made up of the General Dental Services and Oral Health Measures budgets.

The number of deaths from cancer of the oral cavity and the mortality rate per 100,000 population for calendar years 2007-2011 is provided in the following table. Cancer mortality data is not currently available beyond 2011.

Number of deaths¹ from cancer of the oral cavity², Scotland, 2007-2011

Source: ISD Scotland.

Notes:

1. Deaths data are provided by the National Records for Scotland. Deaths are for year of registration.

2. Cancer of the oral cavity is defined as C01-C06 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition.