Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes. A key part of the work that the Scottish Government has been doing is that it has been working directly with funeral directors to ensure that they have been closely involved in the process and have been able to give advice to ensure that we get the best, most rounded regulations.

That is a really important question. I referred to what I saw in Edinburgh and the fact that the PDS is not simply in Chalmers Street; it goes to other areas of Edinburgh to provide exactly the care and service that you have described.

It has been said to me on a number of occasions that the health of someone’s mouth is an indication of their full-body health. In answering Carol Mochan’s question, I talked about the cross-portfolio work. We are considering how we can pull everybody into the population health framework, especially those who are homeless.

I do not know whether Tom Ferris wants to add anything.

You are right to pick up on the statistic about the difference between the least deprived and most deprived areas. In fact, this year we had the lowest gap between the least deprived and most deprived areas, so improvement is taking place. It is nothing to shout about, however, and we absolutely recognise that we have much more work to do.

You are right that childsmile is one of the key areas where we can make a difference. I am pleased that dental practices, communities and schools have re-embraced childsmile after a pretty awful time for oral health during the Covid pandemic. Registrations from nought to two-year-olds, which had fallen to 25 per cent, are up at 40 per cent this year. Again, we are seeing improvement.

I would very much prefer it if people were able to see dentists sooner than they currently do. That is what we are focusing on in delivering the wide range of outputs and changes that we are working on now.

Absolutely. Your point about training our own is really important, too; the dental courses that we have in Stornoway and Dumfries ensure that people from the local area can get training there, and you would hope that they would stay in that local area, too.

Tim is looking at me, because he wants to add something.

Public Health Scotland is doing a lot of work to ensure that we have that information. The changes that were brought in on 1 November last year included looking at the regularity of dental appointments. When I grew up, you went to see your dentist every six months but, under new determination 1, that will be a clinical decision, which means that appointments could be up to every two years for those with very good oral health. We are looking at that information and trying to understand whether that can be captured, too.

My answer is probably a mixed one. We need dentists on the high street, but a number of MSPs have raised concerns about the way in which high-street dentistry is being provided in their constituencies. We are very alert to that issue and are looking at it as part of our governance workstream.

Dentists on the high street run their own businesses, and remuneration is determined by the owner of that practice. If you are talking specifically about those in the public dental sector, I ask Tom Ferris to answer.

That is where my portfolio intersects with different areas. Family nurse practitioners are doing amazing work in deprived areas in supporting new mums and young mums with various elements of their healthcare, as well as income and various other things. Following on from what Tom Ferris said, the introduction of a toothbrush to the baby box, which people asked for previously, is an important recognition of the importance that the Scottish Government places on healthcare and ensuring that children, young people and their families are much more aware of the importance of cleaning their teeth.

Yes—you are on a roll.