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Data on the number of people diagnosed with hepatitis C and admitted to hospital for the first time with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) between 2007 and 2012 are detailed in Table 1. Data for 2012 are provisional as they are not yet published.

Table 1: Number of individuals diagnosed with hepatitis C in Scotland who have been admitted to hospital with ESLD and HCC and number of bed days associated with their stay for those with ESLD and HCC, 2007-2013

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012*
First time hospitalised for ESLD and HCC	123	131	148	148	153	147

ESLD - End Stage Liver Disease

HCC - Hepatocellular carcinoma

* Data for this year are provisional

The Scottish Public Health Observatory publishes available information and data on chronic liver disease on its website:

http://www.scotpho.org.uk/health-wellbeing-and-disease/chronic-liver-disease/key-points).

Health Protection Scotland data for new hepatitis C diagnoses is detailed in Table 2.

Table 2: Number of persons newly diagnosed with hepatitis C antibodies in Scotland each year 2007-2013.

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Persons newly diagnosed HCV positive1	1549	1613	2020	2110	2327	2009	1903

¹ source: Hepatitis C Diagnoses database, Health Protection Scotland

The Scottish Government will continue to ensure that people who wish to have access to a NHS dentist, can do so. Over 4.4 million people across Scotland are now registered with a NHS dentist. This constitutes an increase of 1.8 million since March 2007.

We will also continue to prioritise child oral health through preventative programmes such as Childsmile. The latest report from the National Dental Inspection Programme showed that almost 70 per cent of P1 pupils have no obvious sign of tooth decay compared with only 44 per cent in 2003.

There is a requirement on NHS boards to ensure that NHS general dental services are provided by independent contractors where possible, and are not duplicated by the Public Dental Service.

The £25,000 recruitment allowance is only payable in the three island board areas, where recruitment has historically been challenging.

The Scottish Government does consider that the investment of £7.6 million in the building of Broxden Dental Centre represents a sound investment.

It is not the case that Broxden Dental Centre is massively underused. It is the only Public Dental Service Clinic serving a population of more than 150,000 people in Perth and Kinross. It also carries out undergraduate outreach work, provides vocational training for young dentists unable to obtain positions in independent practice; caters for patients with special needs or requiring special care; and delivers Childsmile.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway are conducting an appropriate consultation of their proposals, and are currently welcoming patient feedback on their preferred option.

The board developed a patient engagement plan in collaboration with the Scottish Health Council. Clinic staff, independent dental contractors and other stakeholders were consulted on proposed options regarding the future provision of routine General Dental Services from each clinic site. Patient information leaflets, posters and comment forms were also made available at each of the clinics explaining the options being considered and the preferred option.

In 2013-14 the Scottish Government, through the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), contributed £8.09 million to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This allows Scottish-based researchers to bid competitively for funding available through a number of the NIHR administered funding schemes.

CSO does not contribute directly to the funding of the Medical Research Council or similar bodies, although occasionally contributes small amounts of funding to initiatives that are co-funded. However in line with UK agreements CSO also invests £42 million annually in the NHS to meet the additional costs of hosting research from these external funders of research.

The Scottish Government will publish an updated framework in 2015, as a successor to the current framework. The new framework will retain the current high level outcomes, but will reflect relevant major developments, including changes in the hepatitis C treatment landscape.

With access to NHS dental services improving it is appropriate for NHS Dumfries and Galloway to review their service provision in order to ensure routine dental care is provided by independent contractors where possible.

The proposed changes are about migrating patients in need of routine dental care from salaried General Dental Services (GDS) to independent contractor GDS with a consequential shift in resources.

The Broxden Dental Centre in Perth will rarely run with one surgery. These rare occasions, when a single surgery emergency service is run, will be on public holidays over and above Christmas and New year, and on two occasions per year when NHS Tayside dental service have a board area-wide meeting.

The decision to enable dental patients to be treated by independent dental contractors, rather than the public dental service, has been driven by the Scottish Government’s aim to improve access to NHS General Dental Services for people in Scotland, and for those services to be provided by independent contractors where possible.

Changes in arrangements have been communicated to patients by NHS Tayside.