Chamber and committees

I just wanted to understand where everybody is, so that has been helpful.

Moving on to the substance of the inquiry, we are interested in looking at the impact that Covid has had on dental services across Scotland. The BDA’s written submission contains a striking statistic. It states:

“Dentistry has lost over half (52%) of its capacity since lockdown”.

My first question is for Mr McColl. How long will it take us to get back to where we were, if we ever do, and what needs to happen to ensure that we do?

I am sorry, convener, but can I pursue that?

Good morning, gentlemen, and thank you for joining us. I will start by asking you to say briefly who you are and perhaps to explain to me the difference between the British Dental Association’s Scottish dental practice committee and the Scottish Dental Association.

I am sorry to interrupt, but are you talking specifically about NHS practices as opposed to private practices?

So there is not a recruitment issue in private practice.

So it is a drop-off of about 30 per cent.

Good morning. I would like to explore the support that NHS boards give to dentistry services more generally. We are in quite a strange situation, where dentists are independent contractors and yet, as NHS boards, you have got the responsibility to ensure the general health of the population, which is delivered through this network of what are, in effect, independent businesses.

I will direct this question first to Declan Gilmore. To put it in context, a constituent came to me last week about a practice in NHS Tayside. This constituent is registered with an NHS practice in Perthshire and has just been told that she will not get the six-month check-up that she has been used to, because the practice is moving to a 12-month check-up. As we have already heard this morning, she is perhaps one of the more fortunate ones because some people do not get any check-ups at all from their NHS dentists. However, I am interested in exploring what the role of the health board is here. What do you do to make sure that there is good access to NHS dentistry in the areas that you have responsibility for?

Thank you. Does either of the other witnesses want to add anything to that?

Thank you.

Does anyone else want to say anything about the impact on hospital dental services or emergency care?