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28 Nov 2005 : Column 251W—continued
Continuing Care
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has commissioned on the trends in the (a) duration of a continuing care episode and (b) the cost of providing continuing care since NHS continuing care was introduced; and what research she has evaluated in this area. [28701]
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Mr. Byrne: Research has not been commissioned on these particular areas because their unpredictable nature makes it extremely difficult to establish any useful trends.
There is no way to estimate with any precision the average duration of an episode of this type. Durations are likely to vary considerably, ranging from individuals with a life expectancy of just a few days, to those who remain in continuing care for extended periods. Costs associated with providing continuing care will also vary greatly between individuals, their care packages and location.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Hampshire county council pays to fund each continuing care patient. [29187]
Caroline Flint: Nothing. Continuing care is paid for by the relevant primary care trust.
Dentistry
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2005, Official Report, column 260W, on dentistry, for what reasons the figures for NHS dentists in each primary care trust were not provided; and when she will provide the figures. [26139]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The figures for national health service dentists in each primary care trust were not provided because this is not information that is collected by the Department.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have left the NHS (a) in each year since 1995 and (b) in 2005 to date; what research her Department has undertaken into the main reasons for leaving; and what action her Department is taking to reduce these numbers. [26806]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
A dentist is assumed to have left the national health service if they had an open GDS or PDS contract in September of the previous year but no GDS or PDS contract in September of the specified year.
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The Department is introducing a major package of reforms from April 2006 that will allow primary care trusts to commission local dental services and more fully reflect local oral health needs. The reforms are also designed to make NHS dentistry more attractive to dentists by reducing their work load, providing the stability of a guaranteed annual NHS income, and offering more opportunities for preventative work.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of five-year-olds in West Lancashire have no decayed, filled or missing teeth. [28142]
Mr. Byrne: From the last NHS survey in 2003–04, 52 per cent. of five-year-old children in West Lancashire Primary Care Trust (PCT) were found to have no decayed, missing or filled teeth. This compares with 58 per cent. in 2001–02. In Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority area the figure was 49.2 per cent. in 2003–04 and in England as a whole 61.3 per cent. None of the PCTs water supply is fluoridated.
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain dentists who register new NHS patients with particular reference to Braintree constituency. [21807]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department, as part of its recruitment of dentists from Poland, placed a dentist in a practice in Witham this summer.
Witham, Braintree and Halstead primary care trust (PCT) has received significant financial growth to expand local dental services under personal dental services (PDS) agreements, which now cover 16 per cent. of practices. The PCT has received £1.142 million growth funding for PDS in 2005–06. Not all these PDS agreements have yet started to accept patients.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 September, Official Report, column 2670–71W, to the hon. Member for Northavon (Steve Webb), on NHS dentistry, whether her Department plans to collect this information centrally from primary care trusts from next April. [24104]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
From next April, the responsibility for commissioning dental services will pass to local primary care trusts (PCTs). PCTs will set contracts with dentists for national health service services and at the same time agree the number of units of dental activity (UDAs) which the dentist should perform over the course of a year as part of that contract. This will provide PCTs with a measure of the overall commitment of their local dentists to NHS dental services, which could be used in the future to measure the overall commitment to the NHS. The Department has no current plans to monitor centrally the amount of time dentists in a PCT spend treating NHS patients.
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Departmental Directors
Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the Director of Human Resources is in her Department; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; and what the details are of his or her career to date. [26323]
Jane Kennedy: Dr. Anne Rainsberry is the Head of Corporate Human Resources in the Department. Dr.Rainsberry joined the civil service in 2001 after 15 years in the national health service. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) and has worked in human resource for 19 years.
Andrew Foster CBE is the Director of Workforce in the Department's health and social care directorate. Mr.Foster spent 10 years in the NHS before joining the Department in 2001. He is a Fellow of the CIPD.
Departmental Vehicles
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vehicles for which the Department is responsible are fitted with retreaded tyres. [17985]
Jane Kennedy: For information on the use of retread tyres in vehicles provided to the Department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 11 October 2005 which he received from the Chief Executive of the GCDA, reference UIN15087 and UIN15088. Copies of this letter are available in the Library.
In addition to vehicles provided by the GCDA, the Department currently leases six vehicles. The policy of the schemes through which these cars are leased is that retread tyres are not used.
Direct Mail Contracts
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts for direct mail were signed by her Department in (a) 2005–06 to date and (b) 2004–05; and what the value was in each case. [27816]
Jane Kennedy: The Department does not currently hold this type of information. It could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Erythropoietin
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)when the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence expects to publish the new appraisal consultation document for the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer treatment-induced anaemia; [30303]
(2) why the National Institute for Health and ClinicalExcellence has decided to review its appraisal consultation document for the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer treatment-induced anaemia. [30304]
Jane Kennedy:
I understand that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decided to review its appraisal consultation document on the use of erythropoietin at the second meeting of the independent advisory committee on technology appraisals. At the meeting, it was decided that some reanalysis of the evidence may be required. The project
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specification for this work is currently being finalised and will be published on NICE's website at www.nice.org.uk shortly.
NICE expects to publish the new appraisal consultation document for erythropoietin in May 2006.
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