Dr Richard Simpson

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether having salaried dentists (a) has led to an increase in access to NHS dentistry and (b) is cost effective.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Salaried dental services have a significant role in remote and rural areas, and particularly in island communities. They also provide an effective solution in areas where there is a gap in NHS general dental services provided by independent dentists. The Sco…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the level at which dentistry charges are split between the NHS and patients.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Patients who are not exempt from dental charges are required to pay 80% of their treatment costs up to a maximum patient charge of £384. Any NHS dental charge above £384 is 100% funded by the NHS. The 80:20 split is believed to be set at an appropriate level…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of the (a) Continuing Professional Development and (b) Clinical Audit Allowance in NHS dentistry. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Continuing Professional Development Allowance and Clinical Audit Allowance allow NHS dentists to take time away from clinical practice to undertake these tasks and is an effective use of these allowances. Maintaining up to date knowledge and skills in de…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reducing the General Dental Practice Allowance for non-committed practices. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has no current plans to reduce the General Dental Practice Allowance for non-committed dental practices.

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS patients are registered with practices that will be negatively affected by the proposed cap to the General Dental Practice Allowance.

Answer · Michael Matheson: On the basis of data from 2012-13, we estimate that approximately 600,000 people are registered with 46 general practices affected by the cap on GDPA. The remaining eleven specialist practices that are affected by the cap do not register patients. Source: Pr…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it uses combined practice inspection to determine the effective use of the General Dental Practice Allowance.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The combined practice inspection process does not specifically look at how a dental practice has used the General Dental Practice Allowance (GDPA). However it does inspect the decontamination facilities, practice information systems, health and safety requir…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of vocational trainees in dentistry. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government remains committed to matching the number of dental vocational training (DVT) places in Scotland to the expected graduate output of Scottish dental schools. Our commitment to provide 172 dental vocational places in 2013 was met. It is …

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed cap on the General Dental Practice Allowance will have on the amount of work carried out by dental practices, broken down by size of practice.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We do not anticipate any significant adverse impact on workload. The cap is one element in a funding package that will mean an increase of 2.51 per cent in item-of-service fees (by far the largest element of funding to dental practices) for independent denti…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed cap on the General Dental Practice Allowance will have on practices that have NHS fees in excess of £670,000.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S4W-17091, S4W-17096 and S4W-17106 on 26 September 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scotti…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the General Dental Practice Allowance has had on the number of practices, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is not possible to establish what impact, if any, the General Dental Practice Allowance (GDPA) has had on the number of dental practices. The GDPA is one element in the overall funding package available to independent dentists providing NHS general dental…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the VAT rate being set at 20% has had on the dentistry sector. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: Dentists are not exempt from VAT and so their costs will reflect the increase in VAT. We are currently working with the British Dental Association Scotland and the Scottish Dental Practitioner Committee on providing robust information on the earnings and exp…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact changes to the cost of precious metals has had on NHS dentistry provision since 2010.

Answer · Michael Matheson: As the cost of precious metals have increased, there has been a shift towards increased usage of non-precious metals by dentists. For example, published data by Information Services Division shows that between 2010-11 and 2012-13 the number of precious metal…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact setting the General Dental Practice Allowance payment for non-committed practices has had on increasing access to NHS dentistry. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: The General Dental Practice Allowance (GDPA) was not introduced as a measure to impact on access to NHS general dental services. The purpose of the GDPA is as outlined in the answer to question S4W-17096 on 26 September 2013. All answers to written parliamen…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of whether the General Dental Practice Allowance has (a) widened access to and (b) improved the professionalism and complexity of dentistry.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The purpose of the GDPA is as outlined in the answer to question S4W-17096 on 26 September 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parli…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many practices will be negatively affected by the proposed cap on GP allowances paid to general dental practitioners who provide NHS general dental services.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17093 on 26 September 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliament…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the proposed cap on GP allowances paid to general dental practitioners who provide NHS general dental services will impact on employment in larger practices.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We anticipate that the impact on employment will be negligible. Those practices affected by the cap will also benefit from the increase in item-of-service fees. The purpose of the General Dental Practice Allowance, as set down in the Statement of Dental Rem…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has taken from (a) doctors and (b) dentists since 2010 when considering pay review body recommendations.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government works in partnership with the professional organisations that represent both doctors and dentists. We meet with representatives from the British Medical Association and the British Dental Association on a regular basis to discuss vari…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had prior to setting the proposed cap on GP allowances paid to general dental practitioners who provide NHS general dental services at £80,000.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government had a number of discussions at different levels. As well as number of meetings between officials (including the Chief Dental Officer) and the Scottish Dental Practice Committee and British Dental Association Scotland, the Minister for…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many practices will be affected by the proposed cap on GP allowances paid to general dental practitioners who provide NHS general dental services.

Answer · Michael Matheson: On the basis of data from 2012-13, we estimate the number of practices that could be affected by the cap on General Dental Practice Allowance at 57 practices. Source: Practitioner Services Division

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the proposed cap on GP allowances paid to general dental practitioners who provide NHS general dental services will impact on the rates of pay of associates employed by practice owners.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Associates are not employed by the practice owner. Both practice owner and associate are independent contractors. Associates receive a percentage of gross fees that will vary between dental practices. These arrangements are particular to the practice owner an…

11 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to mitigate any adverse effects of capping the General Dental Practice Allowance for practice owners who employ general dental practitioners as associates.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The cap on the General Dental Practice Allowance (GDPA) is one element of a wider settlement for independent dentists providing NHS dental services. Dental practices that are affected by the cap will also benefit from a 2.51 per cent increase on item-of-serv…

22 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which accident and emergency units have specialist geriatric teams that assess patients’ suitability for same-day discharge.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information is not held centrally. As the member will be aware work is currently being undertaken by health boards to address issues around unscheduled care. The work of the National Unscheduled Care Improvement Programme will include a significant amou…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken since 2008 to ensure that NHS boards advise staff on maternity leave that they are entitled to be paid for public holidays and do not have to take time off in lieu instead.

Answer · Alex Neil: It was recently agreed through partnership discussions that staff on maternity leave should accrue public holidays from 1 April 2008, and a letter was sent to all NHS boards confirming this. It is for NHS boards, as employers, to ensure that staff receive any…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff (a) have and (b) have not been paid for public holidays while on maternity leave in each year since 2008.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested is not held centrally. Terms and conditions issues in NHSScotland are discussed and agreed in partnership between management and staff. It was recently agreed that staff on maternity leave should accrue public holidays and that this…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the review of the Scottish community pharmacy contract will be published.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has not commissioned or undertaken a review of community pharmacy contract arrangements in Scotland. I am, however, pleased to announce that the Scottish Government has published today our vision and work programme for NHS pharmaceuti…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the recommendations in the Report on Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Humans in 2011.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14441 on 8 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusi…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which of the agreed actions in the Final Report of the Remote and Rural Implementation Group have been implemented and when the outstanding actions will be implemented.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Remote and Rural Implementation Group (RRIG) which oversaw the implementation of the Scottish Government’s report, Delivering for Remote & Rural Healthcare, was disbanded in 2010. Their final report was published on the North of Scotland Planning Group (N…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of the view expressed at paragraph 49 of the Review of NHS Pharmaceutical Care of Patients in the Community in Scotland, it will instigate an immediate moratorium on new community pharmacy licenses where there are existing dispensing practices.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government has today set out its vision and programme of work for NHS pharmaceutical care for the next 10 years in the document, Prescription for Excellence: A Vision and Action Plan for the right pharmaceutical care through integrated partnershi…

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation at paragraph 28 of the Review of NHS Pharmaceutical Care of Patients in the Community in Scotland, which stated “We believe that an important part of the relationship with patients is to ensure that their privacy and confidentiality is safeguard…

Answer · Alex Neil: I am pleased to announce that the Scottish Government has published today its vision and work programme for NHS pharmaceutical care for the next 10 years in the document, Prescription for Excellence: A Vision and Action Plan for the right pharmaceutical care …

21 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent changes there have been to the costs of indemnity for out-of-hours work levied on GPs, and what steps it is taking to ensure that this does not impact on the input of GPs in remote and rural communities.

Answer · Alex Neil: General practices are contracted to provide general medical services by their local health board and not the Scottish Government. It is a condition of that contract that the contractor shall at all times hold adequate insurance against liability arising from …