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Dentistry

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Dental Manpower Review will be published. [147514]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 13 January 2004]: We have now completed the first review of the dental workforce since 1987 and plan shortly to publish the report with the Government's response to its findings.

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the progress primary care trusts have made towards assuming responsibility for NHS dentistry in April 2005. [147503]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Responsibility for administration of the general dental services arrangements passed from health authorities to primary care trusts (PCTs) in October 2002. The National Primary and Care Trust Development Programme (NatPaCT) published a dentistry competency framework to support PCTs during the transition.

Proposals in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 for primary dental services will underpin a modernised, high-quality primary dental service provided through contracts between PCTs and dental practices, properly integrated with the rest of the national health service and providing better access to services with an improved patient experience. The NatPaCT programme will continue to support PCTs through to implementation in April 2005.

The Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act also provides for the replacement of the existing Dental Practice Board by a new special health authority for England and Wales with a wider remit for modernisation and change. This will happen in 2005. In the meantime, shadow arrangements are in place to work in partnership with the existing Dental Practice Board to lead the modernisation process and provide support to PCTs and dentists to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department (a) commissioned and (b) received the Dental Workforce Review; and when he will publish the review report. [150809]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 26 January 2004]: We commissioned the first Dental Workforce Review since 1987 in July 2001. It was completed last autumn and we plan shortly to publish the report with our response to its findings.

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Epilepsy

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that the risks of misdiagnosis of epilepsy are minimised in local delivery of services. [152302]

Dr. Ladyman: We expect several related policies to help reduce the number of cases of misdiagnosis of epilepsy. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has already made its report of the National Clinical Audit of Epilepsy Related Death available to local national health service clinicians and organisations to help improve the management of epilepsy and epilepsy-related death. NICE is also planning to publish a clinical guideline for the diagnosis, management and treatment in July 2004 which will be available to the NHS to support improvements in services. Additionally, implementation of the clinical quality standards of the new general medical services contract from April 2004 will help improve the management of epilepsy in primary care. We are also developing the national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions which will focus on improving the standard of neurology services across England for conditions such as epilepsy. We currently plan to publish the NSF in December 2004 for implementation from 2005.

General Practitioners (Lancashire)

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there are per head of population in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley. [151281]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not available in the format requested. However, information for the primary care trusts in Lancashire is shown in the table.

Primary care trust	GPs per 100,000 population
Blackburn with Darwen PCT	62
Blackpool PCT	60
Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale PCT	56
Chorley and South Ribble PCT	59
Fylde PCT	56
Hyndburn and Ribble Valley PCT	63
Preston PCT	52
West Lancashire PCT	55
Wyre PCT	65

Sources:

1. Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

2. 2001 ONS Population Census.

GP Contract

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made of the number of general practitioners who will opt out of night-time cover following the introduction of the new contract; and what contingency plans he has in place to tackle any reduction in cover. [142260]

Mr. Hutton: Under the new general medical services contract, which is to be introduced from April 2004, general practitioners (GPs) will be able to opt-out completely from responsibility for care during the out-of-hours period and it will become a responsibility of the

2 Feb 2004 : Column 685W

local primary care trust (PCT) who are working with local practices to establish how many intend to exercise this option. We expect that a large majority will exercise this right to opt out of responsibility for arranging out of hours services.

Many GPs will still participate in the delivery of out-of-hours services organised under the auspices of the PCT. Patients will therefore continue to have access to a GP if their condition requires the attention of a doctor.

These changes provide a challenge for PCTs, but they also provide an opportunity for PCTs to review and reconfigure the provision of out-of-hours services across their area and to co-ordinate this with other services including accident and emergency, social care and in-hours services such as national health service walk-in centres.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what means a general practitioner practice can increase its level of funding. [150372]

Mr. Hutton: The new general medical services contract funds practices on the basis of patient need and the range and quality of services provided. Practices can increase their funding by providing higher quality services and services that contribute to the expansion of primary care. United Kingdom expenditure on primary care services will rise from £6.1 billion in 2002–03 to £8.0 billion by 2005–06.

Havering

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many general practitioners were appointed in the London borough of Havering in the last 12 months; and how many vacancies there were in that period; [150367]

(2) how many general practitioners are in practice in the Havering area. [150368]

Mr. Hutton: A total of six general practitioners were appointed in Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) within the period between year end 2002 and June 2003.

Figures for GP vacancies in the 12 month period up to 31 March 2003 are shown in table 1.

GP numbers in Havering PCT are shown in table 2.

1. GP vacancy numbers in Havering PCT⁽²⁶⁾, 2003

	Headcount
England total	(25)3,245
of which
London total	(25)459
of which
North East London SHA	104
of which
Havering PCT	10

⁽²⁵⁾ 1 PCT (Sutton and Merton PCT, South West London SHA) did not respond to the survey

⁽²⁶⁾ Figures show total number of vacancies occurring at any time in the 12 month period up to 31 March 2003

Note:

No figures for PCTs are available before 2003 as previous years vacancy numbers were collected from health authorities

Source:

Department of Health GP Recruitment, Retention and Vacancy survey 2003

2 Feb 2004 : Column 686W

2. General Medical Practitioners⁽²⁷⁾ within Havering PCT;2001—June 2003Numbers (headcount)

	2001	2002	June 2003
England	31,835	32,292	33,082
of which:
North East London SHA	908	954	969
of which:
Havering PCT	122	124	130

⁽²⁷⁾ All Practitioners include QMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (para 52 SFA), PMS Other, GP Retainers and Flexible Career Scheme GPs Data as at 30 September 2001–02 and 30 June 2003

Source:

Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the operating costs of the NHS in the London borough of Havering were in the financial year 2003–04. [150374]

Mr. Hutton: Audited final accounts figures for the financial year 2003–2004 will not be available until Autumn 2004.

However, Havering's total personal social services budget for 2003–04 is £56.667 million, 4.8 per cent., more than its forecast outturn for 2002–03. The 2003–04 national average increase in expenditure is 11.7 per cent.

Havering Primary Care Trust's allocation for 2003–04 is £214.0 million, a 7.2 per cent., increase in real terms and a 9.6 per cent., increase in cash terms.

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