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19 Apr 2004 : Column 253W—continued
Care Homes
Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the minimum standard of care in a care home setting is; and if he will make a statement. [164275]
Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 31 March 2004]: The minimum standard of care for care homes is set out in the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People and the National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Adults (18–65).
These standards are taken into account by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, which is responsible for ensuring homes meet the requirements set down in the Care Homes Regulations 2001.
A copy of the Standards and the Regulations is available in the Library.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of exempting people suffering from particular illnesses from the requirement to recover the costs of personal care provided within care homes. [165468]
Dr. Ladyman: In our response to the Royal Commission on long-term care in the NHS Plan, we made it clear that we did not believe that making personal care free is the best use of limited resources. Instead, we have significantly increased investment in other aspects of older people's services. We believe that investing in services will secure greater benefits for older people than would have been achieved by providing free personal care.
Having made this decision, it would be inequitable to single out particular conditions or different settings for special treatment as far as personal care is concerned.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received concerning the definition of personal care provided within care homes; and if he will make a statement. [164107]
Dr. Ladyman:
Since January 2004, I have not received any representations which specifically ask about the definition of personal care provided in care homes.
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The Department published statutory guidance, 'Supported Housing and Care Homes—Guidance on Regulation' in August 2002, about eligibility for care home registration.
Competent Authorities (EU Accession States)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 March, Official Report, column 934, on training (EU accession states), what assessment his Department has made of the likely numbers of (a) midwives and (b) other healthcare professionals who will come to the UK following the enlargement of the EU; and what actions his Department has taken to ensure that NHS employers have sufficient mechanisms in place to offer appropriate induction programmes to all such professionals requiring them. [166452R]
Mr. Hutton: No estimate has been made. The regulatory bodies will in due course have statistics about the numbers of practitioners from the acceding countries who join their registers. Guidance to the national health service on the implications of enlargement for the recognition of professional qualifications has been issued and is available on the Department's website at http://www.dhtgov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HumanResourcesAndTraining/ModernisingProfessionalRegulation/FitnessToPractice/FitnessToPracticeArticle/fs/en?CONTENT ID = 4078281&chk = ku6xxC.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he intends to reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 24 February with regard to Mrs. E. D. Murphy; [164933]
(2) when he will reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 24 February, with regard to Mrs. E. O. Murphy. [166347]
Dr. John Reid: A reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 2 April 2004.
Dentistry
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists per head of population there were in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) England in each year since 1997. [162925]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of general dental service (GOS) dentists per 10,000 population for South Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT), Tyne and Wear, the North East and for England for 1997 to 2003 is shown in the table. Jarrow constituency is covered by South Tyneside PCT.
These figures are on a headcount rather than a whole time equivalent basis (wte) basis and therefore take no account of part-time working. This may affect comparisons between different areas. The figures include dentists working in the GDS or in the personal dental service (PDS). They exclude dentists working in
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other National Health Service dental services; community dental services and hospital dental services. Dentists working wholly privately are not covered.
| (92)South Tyneside | (93)Tyne and Wear | (94)North East | England | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 3.44 | 3.27 | 3.07 | 3.45 |
| 1998 | 3.60 | 3.39 | 3.25 | 3.54 |
| 1999 | 3.65 | 3.49 | 3.35 | 3.65 |
| 2000 | 3.67 | 3.57 | 3.37 | 3.72 |
| 2001 | 3.62 | 3.61 | 3.43 | 3.84 |
| 2002 | 3.73 | 3.75 | 3.54 | 3.89 |
| 2003 | 3.73 | 3.86 | 3.57 | 3.95 |
Notes:
(92) For 1997 to 2001, figures cover Gateshead and South Tyneside Health Authority (HA) area. From 2002, the figures cover South Tyneside PCT.
(93) Between 1997 and 2002, figures for Tyne and Wear include the following HAs: Gateshead and South Tyneside, Newcastle and North Tyneside and Sunderland. From 2002, figures represent the following PCTs: Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland Teaching.
(94) Between 1997 and 2002 the North East includes the following HAs: County Durham and Darlington, Gateshead and South Tyneside, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Northumberland, Sunderland and Tees. From 2002, it includes Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and County Durham and Tees Valley SHA.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of providing free dental checks for (a) children every six months and (b) adults every year. [164861]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Children are entitled to free dental treatment under the National Health Service, including free dental examinations every six months.
About a quarter of all adults are exempt from charges or pay reduced charges for NHS dental treatment. Under current arrangements, adults may have dental examinations at six monthly intervals if they wish.
If annual dental examinations were made free to all adults in England, patient charge revenue would be reduced by around £65 million per annum. Under the present dental payment system for general dental services, the total cost would be increased if the change stimulated demand for more dental examinations and these also led to some additional NHS dental treatment.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has recently produced draft guidance for consultation, which proposes that the interval between dental examinations for patients should be tailored to meet their needs on the basis of an assessment of disease levels and risk of dental disease. If accepted, we would expect the new contractual arrangements for dentists which are currently under discussion with the profession to reflect this approach which is aimed towards care tailored to the clinical needs of patients. Under the new contract proposals, the link between treatments and payments will be abolished. Instead, dentists will be paid a guaranteed annual income for an agreed level of NHS commitment and will be free to decide treatments for their patients on the basis of clinical need, including the frequency of dental examinations.
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Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a list of NHS dentists serving North Derbyshire; what the addresses of each such clinic is; and what the extent of private dental work undertaken by each one is. [166378]
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collated centrally. However, addresses and contact numbers for dentists serving in North Derbyshire can be obtained from NHS Direct (tel: 0845 4647), or from the national health service website at www.nhs.uk (tel: 020 7210 4850) which connects to local NHS services.
There is no information available on private work as this is a matter for individual contractors.
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