Dentists’ concerns raised in Scottish Parliament
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- Published: Wednesday, 30 July 2014 06:32
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MSP Hanzala Malik (Labour) raised the problem in the Scottish Parliament of dentists having to repay money in relation to duplicate registrations which now amounts to £3.4 million. Although sympathetic to their plight minister, Michael Matheson, said that the money must somehow be repaid.
Hanzala Malik (Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action has been taken to resolve issues causing duplicate registrations in the management information and dental accounting system so that overpayments do not occur in the future.
Michael Matheson (Minister - Scottish National Party): MIDAS payments for dentists are a matter for the practitioner services, which I confirm has put in place a number of measures to resolve issues that cause duplicate registrations, so that overpayments do not occur in the future.
Hanzala Malik: The Scottish Government’s figures estimate that, since 2006, £3.4 million has been overpaid to national health service dentists. That has happened mainly because of a series of flaws in MIDAS, which dentists are forced to use, and is not the dentists’ fault. Does the minister agree that the priority should be sorting out the problem rather than punishing dentists for an error that was generated by a faulty computer system? What action will he take to ensure that the system is fixed, so that dentists do not suffer in the future?
Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party): It is important to understand that information that is held on MIDAS is based on information that dentists supply. Errors have occurred as a result of the information that dentists supplied and which was included on the system. To reduce the number of errors in the future, the community health index number is now attached to records, which reduces the risk of duplicate registrations on the system. I am sure that the member recognises that it is important to retain the more than £3 million that has been overpaid to dentists in the dental budget, so that the money can be invested in dentistry. That money is being used to improve Scotland’s oral health record, as we have done for a number of years.
Richard Simpson (Labour): The problem is that one dentist does not know that another dentist has made a duplicate registration of a patient, so the error is not the dentists’ fault. The information technology problem existed for four years, but the system is requiring dentists to repay the sums within six weeks. That is really not good when someone is running a business. I suggest that the Government should get the problem sorted properly and not punish dentists.
Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party): I am sure that the member will recognise that it is important that overpayments to dentists are recovered. There is a legal responsibility to recover that money.
Richard Simpson (Labour): The period is six weeks
Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party): No. The period of time can be longer, as required. A process is in place to allow that to happen. The practitioner services division will allow that to happen where that is appropriate.I am sure that the member will welcome the fact that all that money has been reinvested in NHS dental care provision in Scotland. That is a positive step to ensure that we continue to improve oral healthcare in Scotland.
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