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Correspondence

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target her Department sets for the maximum time to respond to letters from hon. Members; what proportion of responses met that target in the last period for which figures are available; and what the average time taken was to respond to a letter from hon. Members in that period. [52692]

Mr. Byrne: Our target set is 90 per cent. of all correspondence to have a response within 20 working days of receipt. In the last measured period, January to December 2005, we achieved our target of 90 per cent.

The average response time over the period 2005 was 20 working days to reply.

Dentistry

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely impact of the new General Dental Services contract on (a) the income of dental practices and (b) patients. [51635]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Dentists' current national health service earnings will be protected for at least three years, with an annual uplift for pay and prices, 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. Evidence from personal dental services pilots shows that removing the current fee per item remuneration system leads to simpler courses of treatment, with fewer individual interventions and more time available for preventative care. In the Department's view, this is likely to reduce practice expenses as a proportion of gross NHS income, and therefore increase net income, but the precise impact cannot be quantified.

Patients will benefit from the new contracts in a number of ways. Dentists will have more time available to offer preventative care and advice. The new contracts also reflect clinical guidelines in patient recall intervals, as produced by the National Institute for Health and
 
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Clinical Excellence. This will increasingly mean that patients attend at intervals that better reflect their individual oral health needs. In the Department's view, this is likely to enable a greater range of patients to be seen, as patients with good oral health are likely to attend less frequently.

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists serve the Greater Peterborough Primary Care Partnership; and how many dentists in Peterborough constituency (a) operate fully within the NHS and (b) only offer NHS treatment for children. [53804]

Ms Rosie Winterton: As at 30 September 2005, there were 65 national health service dentists with a general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract within North Peterborough Primary Care Trust (PCT), which also covers Peterborough parliamentary constituency, and 36 within South Peterborough PCT. These figures have been provided by the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre. The data source is the Dental Practice Board.

A dentist with a GDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the PCT. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning the amount of time dedicated to private or NHS work by individual dentists. An individual dentist may have a contract with more than one PCT, in which case they will appear in figures for each PCT with which they hold a contract.

Information about who dentists offer to treat is not collected centrally. However, an analysis of NHS patient registrations data as at 1 June 2005 showed that within South Peterborough PCT there was one dentist having only children registered and in North Peterborough PCT there were not any dentists with only children registered. This analysis is not available at parliamentary constituency area.

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of units of dental activity an NHS dentist with a majority NHS patient list is expected to undertake in a year. [56614]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 7 March 2006]: The number of units of dental activity (UDAs) that general dental services (GDS) dentists will be expected to undertake in a year will be based on the weighted courses of treatment reported to the Dental Practice Board during the reference period of October 2004 to September 2005, but with a five per cent. reduction and with flexibility for primary care trusts (PCTs) and dentists to agree adjustments to the annual total where appropriate.

The number of UDAs for personal dental services (PDS) dentists is a matter for local agreement between PCTs and dentists.

Until GDS contracts and PDS agreements are finalised and UDAs agreed, it is not possible to estimate an average value.

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Statement by the hon. Member for Doncaster Central, in the Fourth Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation on 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 21, what other research,
 
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apart from the units of dental activity system, her Department undertook to establish a mechanism to monitor the new General Dental Service contract post 1 April 2006 before laying the regulations. [56616]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 7 March 2006]: The decision to establish a monitoring mechanism based on measuring weighted courses of treatment took into account evidence from personal dental services (PDS) pilots. This evidence showed that one of the main benefits of abolishing the fee-per-item remuneration system was that dentists were able to carry out simpler courses of treatment with more time for preventative work. The pilots also indicated that there were difficulties monitoring services solely on the basis of patient capitation or similar measures. The system of units of dental activity which are the same as weighted courses of treatment, is designed to promote the same benefits seen in PDS pilots whilst ensuring there is clarity about the level of service expected in a year.

Doctors/Nurses (Recruitment)

Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to increase the recruitment of (a) doctors and (b) nurses. [53011]

Mr. Byrne: The Government have substantially increased the national health service work force. Between September 1997 and September 2004, the number of doctors employed in the NHS increased by over 27,400 to 117,036 (23 per cent.) and the number of nurses employed in the NHS has increased by 78,659 (20 per cent.) to 397,515.

Local employers are responsible for recruiting and retaining the health and social care work force they need to provide local services. The national strategies and tools are already in place to support trusts to recruit andretain staff, promote training and development and redesign their work forces.

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant nursing posts were unfilled, in each strategic health authority in each year since 1997 broken down by nursing specialism; and what assessmentshe has made of the reasons for posts remaining unfilled. [50763]

Mr. Byrne: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities to analyse their local situation and develop plans, in liaison with their local national health service trusts and primary care providers, to deliver high quality NHS services and take action to recruit the appropriate staff required to deliver these services.

Vacancy information for the non-medical workforce was not collected prior to 1999. Information on vacant nursing posts from 1999 to 2005 has been placed in the Library. There are 25 per cent. more nurses than in 1997; vacancy rates have fallen to 1.9 per cent.; and the number of students entering training each year has increased by over 10,000.

Domestic Violence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the access to GP services by families who have been involved in domestic violence in West Lancashire. [53384]

 
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Mr. Byrne: This is a matter for the West Lancashire Primary Care Trust.

In January 2006, the Department published Responding to Domestic Abuse: a handbook for Health Professionals" which updates the domestic violence manual, published in 2000, providing health care professionals, including general practitioners, with a framework for dealing confidently with women who may or are experiencing domestic abuse and a means to access support and advice. An electronic copy is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/66/19/04126619.pdf.

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