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27 Feb 2006 : Column 422W—continued
Children's National Service Framework
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what time scales have been agreed between her Department and the Healthcare Commission for auditing the children's national service framework; [47230]
(2) when she expects indicators on the implementation of the children's national service framework to be set. [47231]
Mr. Byrne: Discussions between the Department and the Healthcare Commission about time scales for auditing, and indicators for the implementation of the children's national service framework are ongoing, and are expected to conclude by September 2006.
Clinical Trials
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence may recommend restricting to clinical trials the use of licensed and approved drugs that have successfully completed the clinical trial process. [53099]
Jane Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE'S) appraisal committee has discretion to determine recommendations on the use of a health technology, in accordance with its published procedures. When the evidence is insufficient to allow the appraisal committee to recommend for or against the use of a technology, it may recommend use in clinical trails in order to generate further data, which may be used at a point in the future to make a definitive recommendation.
Communication Impairment
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people in England with communication impairments; and how many she estimates require augmentative and alternative communication equipment. [50561]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally.
Congenital Heart Conditions
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the North West London strategic health authority are identified as having a grown-up congenital heart condition, broken down by London borough; and which dedicated in-hospital units are available to them. [52289]
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Jane Kennedy: The Department does not hold any data on numbers of adults with congenital heart disease by strategic health authority (SHA) or London borough.
The nearest dedicated units available to adults with congenital heart disease living in North West London SHA are the National Heart hospital and the Royal Brompton hospital.
Conservative Party's Health Policy
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has produced a brief on the Conservative party's health policy since 6 December 2005. [46537]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 30 January 2006]: In briefing Ministers on health policy officials seek to take note of the views of all stakeholders, including patients and the public, frontline workers, the voluntary and independent sectors, the media and political parties.
Continence Services
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when she will implement the standard on continence services within the ill child module of the children's national service framework; [29959]
(2) what method she will use to measure progress towards the implementation of the standard on continence services within the ill child module of the children's national service framework. [29960]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 November 2006]: Paediatric continence services will be implemented and assessed as the children's national service framework (NSF) is phased in. The assessment of availability and access to effective and quality led health care form a part of the duties of the Healthcare Commission, which is in discussion with the Department about auditing implementation of the children's NSF. These discussion are expected to conclude by September 2006.
Correspondence
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health further to her letter of 6 February 2006 to the hon. Member for St. Albans, ref 00000059419, if she will place all her Department's correspondence in relation to Mr. Steve Wright in the Library. [52259]
Mr. Byrne: Correspondence containing individuals' personal data is not placed in the Library.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health further to her letter of 6 February 2006 to the hon. Member for St. Albans, ref. 00000059419, how much of the £143 million for genito-urinary medicine clinics was given to each primary care trust; over what time period; and if she will make a statement. [52260]
Caroline Flint:
In February 2005, individual primary care trusts (PCTs) were notified of their Choosing Health" revenue allocation. A separate breakdown for genito-urinary medicine has not been given. In 2006–07
27 Feb 2006 : Column 424W
£91.5 million will be allocated to PCTs for sexual health modernisation which includes funding for Chlamydia screening and contraception and abortion services and a further £111.5 million will be allocated in 2007–08. In addition, a further £15 million for capital was allocated this financial year for sexual health services and a further £25 million capital in 2006–07 for sexual health will be allocated.
Cystic Fibrosis
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her Department's progress in implementing newborn screening for cystic fibrosis in all parts of the country. [49871]
Mr. Byrne: The Department is working closely with the United Kingdom newborn screening programme centre and commissioners to ensure a phased roll out to allow sites to be trained and ready for the new service.
Delayed Operations
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations originally scheduled for before 31 March are to be delayed for financial reasons until the 2006–07 financial year. [53418]
Jane Kennedy: This information is not available centrally. At the end of 2005, the maximum waiting time for first out-patient appointment with a consultant fell to 13 weeks and the maximum waiting time for inpatient treatment fell to six months. We remain committed to these targets.
Dementia
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 31 January 2006, Official Report, columns 161–2W, on dementia, whether the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence intends to levy charges for providing the South African Department of Health with its guidance. [51880]
Jane Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has agreed to explore how it can provide the South African Department of Health with its guidance under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding that the Department has signed with the South African Government.
Discussions to clarify how NICE can help are due to take place shortly, and no decision will be taken about whether it may or may not appropriate to levy charges until these discussions have taken place.
Copies of all of NICE'S guidance is already freely accessible via their website.
Dentistry
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were registered with an NHS dentist in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in each of the last five years; and what percentage of the population that represented in each year. [51901]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
Notes:
1. Most PDS schemes that have registrations have re-registration periods in excess of 15 months, so the figures for PDS schemes are generally higher than they would have been for the same attendance pattern under GDS.
2. 2002–04 population data are an estimate based on the 2001 resident census.
3. 2005 percentages have been calculated using 2004 population data.
Source:
Dental Practice Board
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists she estimates will be working in the NHS in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008, based on current trends. [51909]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available.
The number of dentists providing national health service primary care services has increased from 18,167 in September 2000 to 20,890 in September 2005. This is an average increase of 2.8 per cent. each year.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statutory duty is placed on primary care trusts to provide access to NHS dentistry; and if she will make a statement. [51910]
Ms Rosie Winterton: After April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) will continue to have a duty under section 16CA(1) of the National Health Service Act 1977 to provide primary dental services to the extent considered necessary to meet all reasonable requirements in their area.
The dental reforms being implemented from April 2006 will give PCTs greater flexibility to develop services in ways that reflect the needs of their local populations.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of registered dentists were practising in England but not working within the NHS in the latest year for which figures are available; and what she estimates this figure will be in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008, based on current trends. [51915]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on registered dentists practising in England but not working within the national health service are not held centrally.
In 2003, the Office of fair Trading, in its report The Private Dentistry Market in the UK", estimated that around 200 of the United Kingdom's 11,000 dental practices provided no NHS treatment at all.
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Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of five-year-olds had no decayed, filled or missing teeth, according to the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry Survey of the dental caries experience of five-year-old children in (a) England, (b) each strategic health authority and (c) each primary care trust in each year since 1997. [32012]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally. The results of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry surveys are available on its website at: www.bascd.org/annual_survey_results.php
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are in Tendring; and how many there were in each of the past five years. [48867]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of dentists working purely in private practice are not held centrally. The numbers of national health service dentists with a general dental service (CDS) contract or personal dental services (PDS) contract for the specified primary care trust (PCT) is shown in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 45 |
| 2002 | 44 |
| 2003 | 43 |
| 2004 | 46 |
| 2005 | 55 |
Notes:
1. Data include all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 19 October 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, e.g. data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS.
2. Dentists include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
3. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. PCT areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory.
Source:
Dental Practice Board
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people in the Peterborough city council unitary authority area who are unable to register with an NHS dentist. [49287]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of people unable to register with a national health service dentist is not collected centrally.
The number of people registered with an NHS dentist in the Peterborough Local Authority (LA) area as at 30 September 2005 was 93,318. We estimate this figure to be 59 per cent. of the total population of the Peterborough LA area which, using the latest available population figures, was estimated to be 159,084 in 2004.
1. Data include General Dentist Service (GDS) and Personal Dental Service (PDS) registrations/PDS patients seen (counts patients seen in the past 15 months for some PDS schemes).
2. Most PDS schemes that have registrations have re-registration periods in excess of 15 months, so the figures for PDS schemes are generally higher than they would have been for the same attendance pattern under GDS.
3. 2004 population data are an estimate based on the 2001 resident census and is the latest available data.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to increase the number of NHS dentists in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency. [50094]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From April 2006, new contracts for dentists will abolish the traditional fee per item remuneration system and support new ways of working. Evidence from personal dental services pilot schemes is that these new ways of working free up significant capacity that dentists can use to spend more time with patients and provide more preventative care.
Dentists' current national health service earnings will be protected for at least three years and there will be a 5 per cent. reduction in the courses of treatment that general dental services practitioners are expected to carry out each year.
From April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) will also have devolved responsibility and ring-fenced budgets for commissioning primary dental services. This means that, if a dentist leaves the NHS or reduces their NHS commitment, the resources stay with the PCT to be re-invested in local dental services.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in Manchester Withington have stopped taking on new NHS patients in the last 12 months. [50354]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally.
Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she is taking to improve dental services in Doncaster North constituency. [50596]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available at constituency level. However, the three Doncaster primary care trusts (PCTs) have been working to improve national health service dental services across Doncaster.
There are currently 43 dental practices across Doncaster. A centralised booking system is in place for patients wishing to register with a dentist and patients are allocated to a general dental practice as and when places become available. In addition, the dental access centre in Mexborough accepts patients from all over South Yorkshire and offers a range of emergency dental treatment. Plans are under consideration to increase the throughput of patients to satisfy the great demand currently being experienced.
Two Polish dentists have been recruited to work in Doncaster.
Doncaster PCTs have received a total of £10.7 million in revenue allocations for personal dental services (PDS) in 2005–06. This is broken down as follows.
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Doncaster Central PCT | 4.829 |
| Doncaster East PCT | 2.091 |
| Doncaster West PCT | 3.780 |
More than 70 per cent. of Doncaster's dental practices have transferred to the new PDS contract.
Since the end of March 2004, capacity across South Yorkshire has been increased by the equivalent of 45 whole-time equivalent dentists and this will enable 80,800 new patient registrations over the next two to three years.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the reforms of NHS dentistry that come into effect on 1 April 2006. [51014]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From April 2006, new contracts for dentists will abolish the traditional fee per item remuneration system and support new ways of working. Evidence from personal dental services pilot schemes is that these new ways of working free up significant capacity that dentists can use to spend more time with patients and provide more preventative care.
Dentists' current national health service earnings will be protected for at least three years and there will be a five per cent, reduction in the courses of treatment that general dental services practitioners are expected to carry out each year.
From April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) will also have devolved responsibility and ring-fenced budgets for commissioning primary dental services. This means that, if a dentist leaves the NHS or reduces their NHS commitment, the resources stay with the PCT to be re-invested in local dental services.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to increase the number of NHS dentists in West Lancashire constituency. [51112]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 2003–04, the Department has invested an additional £250 million in national health service dentistry and supported the NHS in recruiting the equivalent of an extra 1,459 dentists to improve patient access. The Government is also funding an additional 170 training places per year from 2005.
From April 2006, the NHS will be implementing major reforms to dentistry to build upon this success. New contracts for dentists will abolish the traditional fee per item remuneration system and support new ways of working with a greater focus on preventative care. Evidence from personal dental services pilot schemes is that these new ways of working free up significant capacity that dentists can then use in part to see a greater range of patients.
Dentists' current NHS earnings will be protected for at least three years and there will be a 5 per cent. reduction in the courses of treatment that general dental services practitioners are expected to carry out each year.
From April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs), including West Cumbria PCT, will also have devolved responsibility and ring-fenced budgets for commissioning primary dental services. This means
27 Feb 2006 : Column 429W
that, if a dentist leaves the NHS or reduces their NHS commitment, the resources stay with the PCT to be re-invested in local dental services.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether dental practitioners will continue to receive NHS income if they do not sign the new General Dental Services contract by (a) 28 February and (b) 1 April. [51631]
Ms Rosie Winterton: If general dental practitioners have not signed a general dental services (CDS) contract or personal dental services (PDS) agreement by 31 March 2006 they will not receive national health service income after that date but will be entitled to claim payment for incomplete GDS treatment provided up to 31 March. Prospective contractors have been advised to finalise arrangements by the end of February to ensure smooth cashflow during the changes.
After 1 April, new contracts for NHS primary dental services will be a matter for local agreement between primary care trusts and dentists.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the new General Dental Services contract was published for (a) consultation and (b) dental practitioners to sign; [51632]
(2) if she will list the bodies she consulted on the new General Dental Services contract; and how long the consultation period lasted. [51634]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 and The National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005 were not subject to the formal 12-week public consultation but were published on the Department's website on 1 August 2005 and comments were invited by the end of September. The British Dental Association, British Orthodontic Society and the General Dental Practitioners Association were among the bodies to comment on the draft regulations. Their comments were taken into account before the publication of the revised regulations on 9 December 2005.
The regulatory impact assessment for these regulations is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/65/04/04126504.pdfand includes the outcome of this consultation.
The contract regulations came into force on 1 January 2006, enabling primary care trusts and dentists to agree local contracts from this date (for provision of services from 1 April 2006 onwards).
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to increase the number of NHS dentists in (a) the Tameside and Glossop primary care trust area and (b) the Stockport primary care trust area. [51748]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
Since 2003–04, the Department has invested an additional £250 million in national health service dentistry and supported the NHS in recruiting the equivalent of an extra 1,459 dentists to improve patient access. The Government is also funding an additional 170 training places per year from 2005.
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From April 2006, the NHS will be implementing major reforms to dentistry to build upon this success. New contracts for dentists will abolish the traditional fee per item remuneration system and support new ways of working with a greater focus on preventative care. Evidence from personal dental services pilot schemes is that these new ways of working free up significant capacity that dentists can then use in part to see a greater range of patients.
Dentists' current NHS earnings will be protected for at least three years and there will be a 5 per cent. reduction in the courses of treatment that general dental services practitioners are expected to carry out each year.
From April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs), including Tameside and Glossop PCT and Stockport PCT, will also have devolved responsibility and ring-fenced budgets for commissioning primary dental services. This means that, if a dentist leaves the NHS or reduces their NHS commitment, the resources stay with the PCT to be re-invested in local dental services.
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that NHS dental services are provided to everyone who needs them. [51844]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 2003–04, the Department has invested an additional £250 million in national health service dentistry and supported the NHS in recruiting the equivalent of an extra 1,459 dentists to improve patient access. The Government are also funding an additional 170 training places per year from 2005.
From April 2006, the NHS will be implementing major reforms to dentistry to build upon this success. New contracts for dentists will abolish the fee per item remuneration system and support new ways of working with a greater focus on preventative care. Evidence from personal dental services pilot schemes is that these new ways of working free up significant capacity that dentists can then use in part to see a greater range of patients.
From April 2006, primary care trusts (PCTs) will also have devolved responsibility and ring-fenced budgets for commissioning primary dental services. This means that, if a dentist leaves the NHS or reduces their NHS commitment, the resources stay with the PCT to be re-invested in local dental services.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists worked in the area covered by (a) East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust and (b) Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust in each of the last five years. [52340]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 16 February 2005, Official Report, column 2305W.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will collect information at constituency level on the average waiting time to become a patient of an NHS dentist. [52785]
27 Feb 2006 : Column 431W
Ms Rosie Winterton: From 1 April 2006, primary care trusts will have devolved responsibility for commissioning primary dental services and it will be their responsibility to collect relevant information regarding access to dentistry for their local area.
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the effect of the changes to NHS dentistry on costs to (a) Wakefield West primary care trust and (b) the NHS over the next five years. [53407]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Wakefield West primary care trust (PCT) and other PCTs have received notification of the dedicated budgets that they will receive in 2006–07 with which to commission primary dental care services. These devolved budgets are designed to enable PCTs to meet the costs of all existing general dental services and personal dental services in their area, as measured during the reference period October 2004 to September 2005, and where any contracts are closed, to re-use the relevant funding to re-commission services locally. There will be an additional cost to a PCT in so far as it chooses to commission additional services above this level. These budget allocations will form the baseline for future years' budgets. The budgets will be ring-fenced for at least three years, that is, until the end of 2008–09.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements have been made to ensure that NHS orthodontic practices which have not signed new contracts by 28 February 2006 remain within the NHS. [49850]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Dentists providing services under general dental services and personal dental services under section 35 of the National Health Service (NHS) Act 1977 immediately before 1 April 2006 will be entitled to a new contract.
Where dentists do not agree new contracts by 31 March 2006, they will not have an automatic right to a national health service contract. However, primary care trusts will be able to enter into new contracts with dentist if they wish to do so, taking into account the needs of their local population.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect on patients of the Government's new arrangements for orthodontic treatment. [51921]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The new arrangements for commissioning orthodontic services drew on the learning from a personal dental services (PDS) pilot for orthodontic care. An evaluation of this and other PDS pilots was undertaken by the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry and Health Services Management Centre. The report of the evaluation, Personal Dental Services (PDS) Pilots: Final Report of the National Evaluation" is available at: www.hsmc.bham.ac.uk/publications/pdf-reports/finalpdsrep.pdf.
The new arrangements are designed to ensure that assessment of need for orthodontic treatment is carried out more fairly and consistently. They are also designed to help improve the quality of orthodontic interventions and provide the best and most stable outcomes for children.
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