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Clive Efford: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Amess: No. The hon. Member for Workington (Tony Cunningham) would be angry if I did, because Mr. Deputy Speaker is, I think, hoping to allow one more Back-Bench Member to speak before we run out of time.
On dentistry, there are large queues when a general dental practitioner accepts new NHS patients, as my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) said. The UK has one of the worst dentist-to-population ratios in Europe. The average ratio in Europe is one dentist for every 1,1540 citizens, but in the UK it is one for every 2,097. There are two reasons for that. First, there is inadequate recruitment of young people to university degrees in dentistry, and, secondly, there is insufficient capacity in our dental schools, about which the Government have said very little. The intake of undergraduates to English dental schools increased by only 1.8 per cent. on the previous academic year, but the capacity of dental schools is not increasing fast enough to meet the increased demand for new dental students, which the Government claim they are meeting. When I asked the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage more applicants, I was told that the Government have published a new brochure—my goodness, they are marvellous at publishing glossy brochures—and it will be distributed in places where young people will hopefully pick it up and read it. Interestingly, the Government claim that dentistry is a popular choice for A-level students, with nearly two applications for every available place in dental schools. I hope that we will learn more about that when the Minister responds.
Retention is another problem. Overall spending on dental care in the NHS budget is far too low to meet demand, causing an increasing number of dentists, as we have heard, to turn to private work. Although the Government like to claim that expenditure on dental services has increased since 1997, that is misleading. As a percentage of the total gross NHS expenditure, the funding of dental services has decreased every year since 1997. Dentists are fed up with the treadmill system of the NHS and are spending more time in private practice. I am delighted that two dental practitioners in Southend, West who came to my surgery are going to set up an entirely NHS-based dental practice. They hope to work closely with the primary care trust, and the success of the enterprise will depend on the skills of Irish dentists.
The Select Committee on Health is conducting a short inquiry into allergies. Ministers will shortly appear before it to answer questions, but its members have been shocked by evidence that the problem of allergies has been completely ignored. The number of allergies is escalating, and we heard expert evidence that that is because we are much cleaner, so our immune system has to look for other things to do. The Royal College of Physicians has published an earth-shattering report
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entitled "Allergy—the unmet need", but unfortunately until the Select Committee inquiry, the problem received no attention whatever. One third of the population suffers from an allergy, yet only six centres provide full-time specialist allergy services in the UK. To get a better idea of the scarcity of allergy specialists trained to deal with that enormous need, one need only glance at the numbers. There is only one whole-time equivalent allergist-led clinic for every 3.4 million of the population and one allergist for every 2 million people. The Health Committee looks forward to hearing Ministers' response to that problem. There are worrying reports that many GPs are not trained to deal with the problem and simply do not want to address it. Research by Allergy UK, a leading charity on the issue, reveals that many allergy sufferers believe that their problems are not being addressed and that GPs do not have the necessary expertise to deal with them. One patient describing her GP's reaction to her concerns about allergies said:
"He told me very politely to go away and stop bothering him."
I hope the Government will take the comments on allergies very seriously.
Mental health is without doubt the Cinderella service. There is a huge shortage of psychiatrists and physicians to deal with mental health. A study carried out in December by the Commission for Health Improvement found that there were
"serious problems nationally with the recruitment and retention of mental health staff."
The data show that three-month vacancy rates of 11.3 per cent. within the psychiatry group were higher than in any other specialty. I am delighted to say that a charitable organisation in Southend, West called Growing Together is trying to address the problem.
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Amess: I am tempted, but there is one other hon. Member who wishes to speak before the winding-up speeches.
Finally, the Health Committee has led the way in the national and international debate on obesity. All Members of the Committee were shocked and disappointed by the fact that such a serious issue seems to have been ignored until now. It is certainly not just a matter of physical exercise; it has much to do with the content of what we eat.
The problems of recruitment and retention in the areas of health care about which I have spoken reflect the marginalising and neglect of issues that should be critical health priorities for the NHS. These are long-term problems and the country deserves to have them dealt with seriously. It is time for discussion to end and for more action from the Government.
7.22 pm
Tony Cunningham (Workington) (Lab):
I thank hon. Members for enabling me to speak. In the few minutes that remain, I shall concentrate on local issues of recruitment and retention. There are problems, but it is
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important to put them into perspective. In west Cumbria, no in-patients are waiting more than nine months, and no out-patients are waiting more than 17 weeks. There are 167 out-patients waiting more than 13 weeks, compared with the figure 12 months ago, when it was about 600. That represents a fall of about 70 per cent.
The accident and emergency unit in west Cumbria has a proud record: 96.7 per cent. of those in accident and emergency are seen and treated within four hours. That is an incredible achievement and I pay tribute to the staff, who almost perform miracles in the accident and emergency department. With regard to cancer services, 99.9 per cent. of referrals are seen by a specialist within two weeks.
We have 229 more doctors and 1,690 more nurses. One or two hon. Members have mentioned Filipina nurses. In 2002 we recruited 31 Filipina nurses. They have integrated extremely well and do a fantastic job. There have been three weddings and two babies have been born as a result of them coming to the area. The lady who was responsible for the Filipino programme says:
"It has been a wonderful experience for all concerned. The nurses have settled well into our hospitals and communities and have embraced life in Cumbria. It has proved to be an exceptionally successful international recruitment campaign for the Trust."
One of the problems that we have with recruitment and retention is the isolation of west Cumbria—we are quite a distance from the nearest motorway, and so on. However, we have a fantastic quality of life: relatively low house prices, compared with London; the lowest crime rate in the country; and some of the finest schools. If there are any doctors or nurses out there watching the debate, west Cumbria is a superb place to come and work.
However, quality of life is not enough. There are two things that we must do. First, we must try to get a medical school in west Cumbria. Four new medical schools have been created recently and there have been three collaborations between universities. If more people were trained at a medical school in the area, there would be a greater chance of them putting down roots and staying there.
Another thing that would help with both recruitment and retention is a brand new hospital. A brand new community hospital is currently being built. It is a multi-million pound development that will be a huge bonus for the people of Workington, but we need a new district hospital in west Cumbria. I think that the figures suggest that by 2010, about 100 new hospitals will be built in this country. I hope that once all the machinations have been gone through and the consultations have taken place, west Cumbria will get a brand new hospital.
We have talked about targets and all sorts of things,but the vast majority of NHS users whom I speak to—I am sure that other hon. Members would say the same thing anecdotally—tell me what fantastic treatment and service they had. Regardless of the problems with recruitment and retention, there is no doubt that we have seen a huge improvement in the NHS throughout the seven years for which we have had a Labour Government.
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7.25 pm
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