By Democrat reporter
Nothing worse than toothache, especially if you live out in the country where dental extraction waiting times are wicked. If you are a child the waiting time to get a tooth out can be long and lingering.
Labour MSP Martin Whitfield has asked the Health Secretary Jenni Minto what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for dental extractions in rural national health service board areas.
Ms Minto, the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, told him: “Any long wait for surgery is highly regrettable. However, it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of NHS dental care is delivered in a primary care setting.
Labour MSP Marti Whitfield and Public Health Minister Jenni Minto.
“We are working with health boards to develop detailed annual delivery plans to support waiting list reductions and improve productivity. We continue to target resources to ensure that those who have been waiting longest are treated as soon as possible.”
Martin Whitfield said the results of a freedom of information request made to NHS health boards reveals a failure to deliver adequate dental care across Scotland.
In some areas, children wait an average of 42 weeks and in others for for 20 weeks, and one areahas seen waiting times rise by almost 300 per cent since 2019.
He added: “The NHS is an emanation of the state, and article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear that every child has a right to the highest attainable standard of health and access to essential care. What is the Scottish Government’s defence of its failure to live up to that human right?”
Jenni Minto said: “I recognise that the waiting lists for young children are far too long. I have visited the dental hospital in Glasgow to see what work it is doing to improve throughput and the work that it is doing with health boards.
“I also met the British Dental Association Scotland last week and listened to its concerns. As I noted in my first answer, we expect health boards to deliver annual delivery plans to clearly set out how they will address long waits across all specialties, including paediatric dentistry.”
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