To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that nearly 40 per cent of adults in Dumfries and Galloway are not registered with a national health service dentist. (S6O-04811)

In recognition of the particularly challenging circumstances in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government will continue to provide additional financial assistance to the local health board in 2025-26, including to deliver additional evening clinics for unregistered priority patients. My officials also continue to work closely with the health board, and they meet the director of dentistry regularly.

The reality is that the registration rate is not just the lowest in the country; it is getting worse. Nearly 3,000 fewer adults are registered than there were at this time last year, so it is pretty clear that the Government’s current approach is simply not working. Does the minister recognise that, had the Government acted on the warnings from NHS Dumfries and Galloway, more than five years ago, that a crisis was looming, my constituents would not have had to go private to get dental healthcare? Given that the actions of the Government are clearly not working, what more does it plan to do, and when will that start to have an impact?

As I said in my earlier answer, I recognise that there are issues in Dumfries and Galloway, and the Government is currently working closely with the health board on them. The situation that Mr Smyth describes is occurring not just within Scotland but across the four nations of the United Kingdom. I have been working closely with my counterparts and with the directors of dentistry across each of those nations to ensure that we can reach a four-country solution. We need to improve the pipeline of dentists coming into the country and ensure that those who are in Scotland after training in other countries have the right UK training to allow them to step up to become dentists here. In line with this year’s programme for government, we have increased dentistry funding by 15 per cent, which is the highest-ever proportional increase for the sector. We are also working closely with rural boards to ensure that specific payments that are intended to encourage dentists to move to rural and island locations are more targeted.

Elena Whitham has a supplementary question—hopefully with reference to the question, which of course concerns access to NHS dentistry in Dumfries and Galloway.

As the minister has touched on, increasing the dental workforce plays a crucial role in improving access to NHS dentistry, in Dumfries and Galloway and across all our rural areas more widely. Can the minister say more about the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to support the dental workforce pipeline, especially in rural areas, where the need is acute, with far too many of our constituents travelling extensively to secure treatment, oftentimes when they are in pain?

The Scottish Government’s operational improvement plan sets out a package of actions to improve the NHS dental workforce now and into the future, in Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland. As I have said, it is being supported by additional funding in 2025-26. Alongside that, we are working with NHS boards to refine the financial incentives that are in place to support dentists in moving to work in rural areas, thus supporting sustainable access across Scotland.

We have a supplementary from Finlay Carson. Again, it should be with reference to Dumfries and Galloway.

Can the minister state whether access to NHS dentists has been getting better or worse since the Government’s additional funding was made available?

I would like to report—if I can find this in my notes—that Public Health Scotland statistics published in May show that more than 4.2 million courses of treatment were delivered to patients in the 2024-25 financial year—

This is not about Dumfries and Galloway.

More than 1 million patients were seen by NHS dentists in the quarter ending March 2025. As I have indicated, I recognise that we have—

Is that up or down?

Members, could we let the minister respond? I think that she is getting on to Dumfries and Galloway.

As I have indicated, I recognise that there are issues in Dumfries and Galloway—

Is it better or worse?

—and we are doing what we can to improve access to dentistry across the region.