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30 Mar 2006 : Column 1171W—continued
Dentistry
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of visiting dental services that will be affected by the new dental contract in (a) England and (b) London. [54621]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Under the arrangements for the delegation of commissioning of national health service primary care dental services to primary care trusts (PCT), which come into effect from 1 April, PCTs will be responsible for commissioning domiciliary and other additional services, taking account of the needs of their populations. It is too early to estimate the number of contracts that PCTs will agree for domiciliary services but, as with the wider reforms to NHS dentistry, our intention is to make these services more responsive to the needs of patients.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were available to NHS patients in North Yorkshire on 1 April 2005; and how many she expects to be available on the date on which the new dentist's contract is implemented. [60921]
Mr. Byrne: As at 31 March 2005, there were 629 national health service dentists with a general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract within the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire strategic health authority (SHA) area. Data as at 1 April 2005 is not readily available.
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 their primary care trust. Information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual GDS or PDS dentists is not centrally available.
The new dental contract will be introduced on 1 April 2006. Information on the number of NHS dentists signed up to the new contract is therefore not yet available.
Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 5 July 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may
- vary depending upon the notification period, for example, data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS.
Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. SNA areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory.
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed by (a) the Meat Hygiene Service, (b) the NHS Estates Agency, (c) the NHS Pensions Agency, (d) the National Heath Service Purchasing and Supplies, (e) the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, (f) the Food Standards Agency and (g) her Department in each region in each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and how many and what percentage of posts were vacant in each region in each month. [51320]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is shown in the tables.
Notes:
The following points should be noted:
1. The Meat Hygiene Service, Food Standards Agency and the NHS Pensions Agency are no longer part of the Department, therefore no data is held on the Department's human resource information systems.
2. The NHS Estates Agency no longer exists.
3. Vacancy figures presented in the table are numbers of vacancies for which the Department or agency was actively recruiting.
4. A breakdown of vacancies by region is not available.
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Food Labelling
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will consider the merits of labelling meat and dairy produce to promote the consumption of omega 3 fats which would distinguish between ruminant animals fed predominantly fresh grass and those fed predominantly grain. [61806]
Caroline Flint: Some studies have shown that ruminants fed fresh grass and other forage produce meat and dairy products with slightly higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids. However, these fatty acids differ chemically from the longer chain omega 3 fatty acids present in oily fish and which have been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular disease. The nutritional consequences of slightly higher levels of intake of the shorter chain omega 3 fatty acids are not known, and so there is no currently justification for such labelling.
General Practitioners
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general medical practitioner whole-time equivalents there are in England; what methodology she used in calculating this number; and what the margin of error is in the estimate. [61258]
Mr. Byrne: In June 2005, there were 32,418 general medical practitioners, excluding general practitioner (GP) retainers and GP registrars. This equated to 29,010 full-time equivalents (FTE).
The new primary medical care contract was introduced in 1 April 2004 and this only stipulates whether GPs are full-time or part-time. Using information from previous years the FTE figures were estimated using factors of 1.0 full-time and 0.6 part-time.
King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure that the skills of the full-time equivalent staff at King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst can be redeployed in the regional NHS. [61590]
Caroline Flint:
This is a local matter. I am informed that the joint human resources team from Western Sussex and Royal West Sussex National Health Service Trust have worked closely to help staff find vacancies
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within the NHS. Western Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) has transferred the consultant and community specialist palliative care team to the PCT to ensure these specialist skills and this service is not lost to NHS patients. Chichester district council has provided support to staff to access alternative employment.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to ensure that standards of care are maintained for those NHS patients (a) being treated and (b) due to be treated at King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst. [61591]
Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. Responsibility for the provision of health services now rests with local national health service organisation. The local primary care trusts (PCTs) responsible for commissioning treatment for NHS patients have, where possible, commissioned ongoing treatment with the same consultant or nearest local NHS provider who offers the service. I am informed that no existing inpatient had to be transferred as a result of the closure.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that the local NHS has capacity to deal with the effects of the closure of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst. [61592]
Caroline Flint: Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for commissioning care to get the best services for local people, subject to the highest clinical standards and best value for money. At a local level, the PCTs commissioning treatments have been able to secure the necessary capacity to treat these patients without causing capacity problems for local national health service providers.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the possible closure of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst on waiting times for patients on the waiting list for operations at St. Richard's hospital, Chichester. [61593]
Caroline Flint:
This is a local matter. Responsibility for the delivery of local health services, including meeting national waiting time targets, now rests with local national health service organisations. I am informed that the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust has worked closely with Western Sussex Primary Care Trust and King Edward VII hospital and is confident that all patients will be treated within the national waiting time targets.
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Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions took place between representatives of local primary care trusts and officials from her Department on the future of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst. [61594]
Caroline Flint: I am informed that the Western Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) is not aware of any discussions between representatives of the PCT and this Department.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions were held between officials from her Department and Capio Healthcare UK on the future of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst in the last 12 months. [61595]
Caroline Flint: The Department was made aware of Capio's plan to purchase the King Edward VII hospital in December 2004. Capio has kept the Department informed of developments with their plans to purchase the facility since this time. The Department was informed on 9 March 2006 that the proposed deal would not be going ahead.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the funding deficits in the NHS in (a) the Surrey and Sussex and (b) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authorities resulted in a reduction in the funding stream provided to King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst through the primary care trusts. [61614]
Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities to deliver both overall financial balance for their local health communities and to ensure that each and every body achieves financial balance. The King Edward VII Hospital has received funding from primary care trusts in Surrey and Sussex and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for activity in the following areas:
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