By Professor John Robertson
Given a free campaign platform with no professional journalism in sight, Anas Sarwar is allowed by STV to claim Scotland faces a two-tier dentistry system, because:
It comes after figures at the end of last year showed a drop in the number of people being seen by NHS dentists.
Data from Public Health Scotland revealed that in December 2023 there were 245,501 patients who were seen or had contact with an NHS dentist, down from 396,084 the previous month.
The number of dental treatments carried out on the NHS fell from 733,596 to 542,897 in the same period.
https://news.stv.tv/politics/labour-warns-scotland-facing-two-tier-dentistry-system
This is a monthly variation between November and December! Of course there were fewer going to the dentist in the weeks before Christmas. At best, Scottish Labour, typically dim, is comparing an effectively three week month, more likely a two-week month, with a preceding 4 week month.
Is there no one vaguely awake at STV?
On the other hand, perhaps Scottish Labour is not so much dim as sneaky and STV don’t give a, when you offer them free stories?
Here are some meaningful annual and quarterly data:
The traditional model of NHS dentistry is gone for good, experts are warning.The Nuffield Trust think tank said the service had been cut back so much it was now at the most perilous position in its 75-year history in England. It said restoring services would probably need an unrealistic amount of money and called for radical reform, suggesting NHS support may need to be completely scaled back for some adults.
The government said it would be publishing a recovery plan soon.
The Nuffield Trust said funding for NHS dentistry had suffered huge cuts in recent years. Some £3.1bn was spent in 2021-22 – a drop of £525m since 2014-15 once inflation is taken into account. It said the number of treatments being done each year was now six million lower than it was before the pandemic.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67754983
The full report and the press releases make no mention of Scotland other than this:
Compared to England’s 4.3 dentists per 10,000 population in 2021/22, Northern Ireland had 6, Scotland had 5.9 and Wales had 4.6.https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/research/bold-action-or-slow-decay-the-state-of-nhs-dentistry-and-future-policy-actions
Remarkably, for a research group which has often revealed Scotland’s superior NHS, they do not mention this:
95.4% of the Scottish population were registered with an NHS dentist as at 30 September 2022. Nearly all adults living in the most deprived areas were registered with an NHS dentist in September 2022, compared to 91.9% in the least deprived areas.https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/dental-statistics-registration-and-participation/dental-statistics-nhs-registration-and-participation-24-january-2023/
or this:
From Public Health Scotland on 22 August 2023: The number of examinations paid in the quarter ending June 2023 was 782,783; an increase of 8% compared to the previous quarter (727,751). This was the fourth quarter in a row when examinations increased.https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-dental-treatments-report-quarterly/nhs-dental-treatment-statistics-quarter-ending-30-june-2023
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Nor, I take it, do they mention that the SG gave grants to dentists early on in the pandemic so that they could buy HEPA filters for their surgeries so that they could restart aerosol generating procedures such as fillings etc.
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I’m trying to ‘like’ your post but it’s not being accepted even when I’ve signed in.
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Sorry to hear that.
No techy relatives or neighbours?
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Solved. Am using Jetpack now and that seems to have solved my problem.
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I was able to ‘Like’ your post. I’ll take your word for the deed.
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Anas Sarwar will next be claiming that fewer patients are seen by dentists on a Sunday !
His apparent lack of understanding of stats is probably why his dad insisted on him doing anything other than run the business HE had built tup !
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Labour intend to make healthcare workers work at the weekend to decrease waiting lists. The staff are already working longer. They are exhausted. Brexit lost healthcare workers. Another own goal.
Weekend/evening working is not popular. People do not attend. Tried before. They want week day appointments.
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The numbers are going down because people are being seen. Reducing waiting times. Any backlog is falling.
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“STV allow Sarwar to misuse basic statistics”
Aye they sure did and always do….as do others in the media in Scotland…..muddying the waters and also spin seems to be the only viable option that they, the media, have concluded for Labour in Scotland to possibly help them win some extra seats in the next GE………
In them, the media, promoting a narrative that only notes positivity via Labour while obscuring the negatives with Labour…..all in their media coverage (tactics) which is a combined effort by most of the media to try and aid Sarwar’s party to potentially gain some seats in the next GE within Scotland for reasons all to obvious….sadly what they also misuse is their suggestion that somehow Sarwar’s supposed opinion and supposed support upon specific matters is somehow influential and of worth within his Labour HQ party….in respect to their , Labour HQ’s , intended future direction and decisions should they, Labour HQ, win the next GE and thus become the next UK government….the UK part being the operative word in the actual whole shebang…..as representing any party as UK government.
Indeed tis an extreme falsehood to try and suggest that Sarwar’s supposed opposition or supposed support in respect to policies etc in the next GE and upon any matters within the context of the UK is somehow meaningful and significant, that is a fallacy , and should any media continue to suggest that somehow Labour HQ will allow Sarwar to have any significant input and any control in him calling the shots upon Labour’s future path as the possible next UK government, , well that is unquestionably ‘for the birds’……
I think we all know who it is within the Labour party who will get to decide what they do as a UK government and who in the branch office will , as per, abide by their decisions at Labour HQ….even if those same decisions were ones that both STV News and other media formerly stated Sarwar was (supposedly) against or (supposedly) supportive of and thus contrasted with that of Labour HQ’s official position……that will be filed under ‘Tough’ by Labour HQ and also ‘Shut it’ as in do not rock the boat
( As were all of Dross’s branch office manager’s media reported supposed attempts and supposed media reported opposition/support to that of his Tory HQ’s official position that supposedly conflicted with that of Dross’s supposed position)…..they, the media, must really think we are all thick in scotland…fortunately many of us are not….I hope though that in the next GE that will be via a majority in Scotland….
NMRN
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