Scottish Government pledges £3m to create extra dental training places
If passed by Parliament, it will form part of a record £21 billion for health and social care.
The Scottish Government has allocated £3m for the creation of additional dental training places as part of its 2025-26 Budget.
A spokesperson for the Government said: “The additional investment of up to £3 million will be drawn from the performance and reform package in 2025/26 to deliver additional measures to support the NHS dental workforce to improve access and bring sustainability to workforce capacity.
“This plan would see an expansion of 7% to domestic student numbers from September 2025, supporting our annual dental workforce pipeline. An innovative training package for overseas-qualified dentists (currently working as therapists) to articulate to full dentist registration with the GDC will also be taken forward.”
The 2025-26 Budget, If approved by Parliament, will provide a record £21 billion for health and social care, including:
- £16.2 billion for NHS Boards to deliver key services
- £2.2 billion for Primary Care services – a 7.9% increase
- an increase of £139 million in capital spending power, progressing the Belford Hospital, Monklands Hospital and Edinburgh Eye Pavilion projects
- £200 million to help reduce waiting times and improve capacity
- £3 million to create additional dental training places
- an additional £5 million for short breaks to support unpaid carers.
Neil Gray, the Health Secretary, said: “This Budget has improving our NHS at its very heart and sees record funding of £21 billion for the health and social care portfolio. We are determined to improve NHS performance and our planned investment of £200 million to help clear long waits and improve capacity will help drive that vital progress.
“We are increasing funding for Primary Care by 7.9 per cent to more than £2.2 billion – this will help increase access and capacity, including delivering additional support for General Practice, a critical dental workforce and training package and enhancements to community eyecare,
“It is absolutely vital we ensure people have access to high-quality health, mental health, and social care services when and where they need them – that is why we are increasing our capital spending power by £139 million in 2025-26.
“These measures are key in driving forward our vision of a Scotland where people live longer, healthier and fulfilling lives. The funding outlined will support NHS reform and our efforts to improve population health with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
“We want to make progress on improving our NHS, but to do that, Parliament must approve our Budget Bill to unlock investment to drive long-term and lasting improvements – and the healthier population – that we all want to see.”
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