Scottish government must ‘brush up’ its act on dentistry, says Labour

Labour say the Scottish Government must “brush up its act” on lengthy waits for dental surgery, as data revealed one patient waited more than three years.

Freedom of information data showed average waits for dental, oral or orthodontic surgery had increased across almost all of Scotland’s health boards between 2019 and 2023.

In NHS Lanarkshire there was a sixfold increase, going from five weeks in 2019 to 35 weeks in 2023.

Health boards were also asked about the longest waits for surgery, with one patient in the same health board waiting 175 weeks for surgery.

Paul Sweeney said patients are struggling in pain (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Media

Paul Sweeney, Scottish Labour’s spokesman on dentistry, said: “Being in pain every time you eat a meal or try to talk is agony for a few days, let alone months or years, but that is the reality for many of those unfortunate enough to be on a waiting list for dental surgery.

“The SNP has presided over a rot in local NHS dentistry over the past 17 years and it needs to brush up its act fast.

“A Scottish Labour government will end this creeping, two-tier health system and ensure that patients can get the treatment they need.”

A new payment system for dentistry was introduced last year, with ministers saying there were one million patients seen by an NHS dentist in the first three months of 2024.

However, the British Dental Association has said further reform is needed in the sector.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The overwhelming majority of people receive dental care in a primary care setting. Latest figures show over one million courses of treatment were delivered to patients in the last quarter – highlighting the success of our payment reforms.

“We are supporting NHS Boards to drive improvements in waiting times and are targeting resources to ensure people waiting the longest are treated as soon as possible.

“We have significant activity under way to target backlogs locally and through our National Treatment Centres, which will provide additional capacity and will see around 20,000 extra procedures a year, once fully operational.”