• CHILD DENTAL REGISTRATIONS REACH RECORD HIGH

    28Aug
    Minister for Public Health Shona Robison today hailed figures which showed the number of children in Scotland registered with an NHS dentist has risen to its highest ever level.
    The figures, contained in a Parliamentary answer, show that the number of children aged three to five registered with a dentist has risen nearly 15 per cent in the last two years, to 80 per cent.
    Ms Robison said the statistics showed strategies to encourage more parents to register their children with a dentist are paying off.
    Separate figures also show that the number of NHS dentists across Scotland has risen 20 per cent in the last three years.
    Ms Robison said: “It is great to see that we now have 80 per cent of children aged three to five registered with an NHS dentist. It is well known that children who get into good oral health habits early on are much more likely to continue these into later life.
    “This is testament to the success programmes like Childsmile and our schools based dental service are having in getting children signed up with a dentist.
    “We know children’s oral health is improving and the most recent National Dental Inspection Programme survey shows that the dental health of primary one pupils in Scotland has reached the highest levels ever recorded.
    “The rise in the number of dentists working in the NHS also shows that the hard work we have done to make working in the NHS as attractive as possible has paid off.
    “These figures are good news, but we are not complacent – we know that more work needs to be done to increase access to NHS dentistry and improve oral health. That is why we are continuing our child oral health initiatives and doing all we can to make sure that as many people as possible have access to an NHS dentist.”

    Minister for Public Health Shona Robison today hailed figures which showed the number of children in Scotland registered with an NHS dentist has risen to its highest ever level.

    The figures, contained in a Parliamentary answer, show that the number of children aged three to five registered with a dentist has risen nearly 15 per cent in the last two years, to 80 per cent.

    Ms Robison said the statistics showed strategies to encourage more parents to register their children with a dentist are paying off.

    Separate figures also show that the number of NHS dentists across Scotland has risen 20 per cent in the last three years.

    Ms Robison said: “It is great to see that we now have 80 per cent of children aged three to five registered with an NHS dentist. It is well known that children who get into good oral health habits early on are much more likely to continue these into later life.

    “This is testament to the success programmes like Childsmile and our schools based dental service are having in getting children signed up with a dentist.

    “We know children’s oral health is improving and the most recent National Dental Inspection Programme survey shows that the dental health of primary one pupils in Scotland has reached the highest levels ever recorded.

    “The rise in the number of dentists working in the NHS also shows that the hard work we have done to make working in the NHS as attractive as possible has paid off.

    “These figures are good news, but we are not complacent – we know that more work needs to be done to increase access to NHS dentistry and improve oral health. That is why we are continuing our child oral health initiatives and doing all we can to make sure that as many people as possible have access to an NHS dentist.”

  • MSP Receives DERL Assurances

    26Aug

    Shona with L-R: Ivor Kelly, Chairman of DERL, Mark McCarthy, Managing Director, and Rob Ebbins of SEPA prior to their tour of the plant.

    Shona with L-R: Ivor Kelly, Chairman of DERL, Mark McCarthy, Managing Director, and Rob Ebbins of SEPA prior to their tour of the plant.

    Dundee East MSP Shona Robison has received assurances over last year’s breach of emission levels at the Dundee Energy Recycling Limited (DERL) plant in Baldovie Industrial Estate.

    The MSP visited the plant for a top-level meeting after having written to SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) in June 2009 about a breach in emission limits for toxins and furans which occurred in March 2008 when SEPA served the plant with an enforcement notice.

    As a result of the single emission, the plant failed its operator performance assessment in 2008.

    Shona Robison said: “As a result of expressing concern to SEPA about last year’s incident and its potential effect on the health of my constituents, I was invited to a meeting at the plant with Mark McCarthy, the Managing Director and Ivor Kelly, Chairman of DERL, to discuss the issue. Rob Ebbins of SEPA was also present.

    “I was given a detailed history of the emission event in March 2008 as part of a tour of the plant and a presentation on DERL’s procedures.”

    DERL is Scotland’s first and most-advanced energy-from-waste plant and it processes 85,000 tonnes of refuse per year, of which 65,000 tonnes comes from Dundee City Council, and it exports over 7 megawatts of electricity to the National Grid. This is enough to supply the needs of up to 14,000 homes and the company hopes in the future to be able to become even more-energy efficient through export of its heat as well as its electricity.

    Commenting after the meeting, Shona Robison said: “I was made aware that specific limits under which the plant operates are defined in the European Waste Directive and that these are very stringent indeed.

    “In December 2005, the limits of dioxin and furan emissions were reduced tenfold and DERL’s permit requires two independent test measurements of dioxin and furan emissions per year on each of the two boilers.

    “I was told by Rob Ebbins of SEPA that part of the problem was that the levels of dioxins and furans being produced was so low that technology did not yet exist that could measure it continuously.

    “When independent tests are conducted, emissions are measured over a period of hours and sent away to be analysed by a specialist laboratory equipped to carry out the detailed analysis of such low levels of material.

    “It was a useful meeting and I have been reassured that the European emissions limits for dioxins and furans are very tough and are being stringently upheld.

    “Apart from the single breach of emissions levels in March 2008, the plant has consistently received excellent performance scores and I have been assured that it takes very seriously its obligations under its permit. I hope this will be reassuring to my constituents but I will be keeping in close contact with the company and with SEPA on the performance of the plant in Dundee.”

    ENDS

  • Politicians’ Comments on Brandon Muir Case Report

    26Aug

    Commenting on the publication of the Significant Case Review report on the Brandon Muir case by Peter Wilson and Jimmy Hawthorn, Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “It has been generally accepted that Peter Wilson’s Independent Report has been very thorough and has considered all of the issues surrounding the Brandon Muir Case.
    “It has however identified a number of areas which were weak including inter-departmental and inter-agency communication between key workers on child protection cases and I welcome assurances that lessons will be learned.

    “I am delighted that Dundee City Council has agreed that they will implement all of the recommendations.

    “It is essential to have a 12 month follow up Inspection and I am confident they will be able to measure real progress in the city’s child protection service.”

    Shona Robison, Dundee East MSP said: “A large number of recommendations have been made which social workers and personnel in other key agencies will need to implement urgently. We owe it to Brandon and his family to have these implemented in full.
    “The Children’s Minister, Adam Ingram, has said that the recommendations from both the case review and the Independent Report will be used by every child protection committee in all Scotland’s authorities to form the basis of strengthening child protection services nationally. I welcome this.”

    Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said: “The two reports identify some failures of agencies to work jointly together and these must be addressed. However, additional resources have already been allocated to meet the gaps in service in Dundee identified in the report and to appoint more front-line social workers.
    “I am pleased that there is an extra £1.3m specifically allocated to child-protection in Dundee in this current financial year for them to be able to do this.
    “Our priority as Dundee MSPs is to ensure that the action plan is fully implemented as quickly as possible to make sure that vulnerable children in Dundee are better protected in the future.”


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