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HEALTH
Payment By Results
8. Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that hospitals with new estate and high capital charges are not disadvantaged by the average cost of procedure funding system of the new payment by results tariff. [63694]
Jane Kennedy: Payment by results is a transparent and fair method of paying hospitals for their services.
The tariff takes account of the cost of capital, and the annual tariff increase includes an assessment of the increase in capital charges.
None the less, the affordability of new buildings still requires effective financial management by trusts.
Bowel Cancer Screening
16. Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the national roll-out of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. [63702]
25. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. [63711]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The national bowel cancer screening programme will be rolled out nationally over the next three years. Funding for the first year of the screening programme is being transferred to the National Cancer Screening Team in Sheffield, and Wolverhampton will be the first local screening centre.
Pulmonary Hypertension
17. Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were (a) diagnosed with and (b) treated for pulmonary hypertension in each of the last two years. [63703]
Ms Rosie Winterton: At the nationally-designated Pulmonary Hypertension centres in England, which treat the majority of United Kingdom patients except Scottish patients, there were 591 patients being treated at 31 March 2004, 841 at 31 March 2005 and 1,114 at 31 March 2006.
Vaccination (Influenza)
18. Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been vaccinated against the influenza virus in winter 2005–06. [63704]
Caroline Flint:
Data based on returns received from general practitioner practices show that 8,520,146 people in England registered in an at risk group received
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their flu vaccination in 2005–06. This represents the highest ever flu vaccination uptake for the 65s and over and for those under 65 in at risk groups.
A and E (Unnecessary Admissions)
19. Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effects on (a) patients and (b) public funds of reducing unnecessary admissions into accident and emergency departments for people with common conditions. [63705]
Jane Kennedy: In 2004–05, the national health service spent £1.3 billion on admissions for people with 19 common conditions. Research by the NHS Institute has indicated that, based on the best performers in the NHS, a 30 per cent. reduction in this total would achieve savings of £437 million for the NHS.
Reducing unnecessary admissions will be:
better for patients—especially those with long-term conditions, who would often benefit more from community treatment;
Dentistry
20. Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State forHealth what she estimates the average income of anNHS dentist will be under the new contract for dentists. [63706]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We estimate that a committed national health service dentist earns an average net income of around £80,000 in 2005–06. The Government have accepted the independent Pay Review Body's recommendation of a 3 per cent. increase in dentists' pay, which means that we would expect the same dentist to earn an average of over £82,000 in 2006–07.
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent per capita on NHS dentistry in (a) the Beverley and Holderness constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) England in each year since 1997. [41365]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Figures on expenditure per capita in the Beverley and Holderness constituency cannot be calculated, as population data are not available for parliamentary constituency areas.
The table shows the readily available data on expenditure on the general dental services (GDS), or personal dental services (PDS) in the Beverley and Holderness constituency. The difference between gross and net expenditure is the contribution to costs from dental charges collected directly from patients.
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Equivalent expenditure within East Yorkshire primary care trust (PCT), together with gross and net expenditure on a per capita basis, is shown in the tables.
Equivalent expenditure for England is set out in the tables. As the notes to the table's record, the data are not a complete record of all elements of GDS and PDS expenditure. The tables are based on the core elements of expenditure for which data are readily available by PCT and constituency areas to provide a more appropriate comparison with the analysis of local expenditure.
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(159) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments and point of treatment check payment training (in 2001 only), seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants and clinical audit payments. The following costs are excluded from this data; employer's superannuation costs, vocational trainee salaries and national insurance contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit secretarial support costs and travel expenses, and costs associated with any salaried general dental practitioners and emergency dental services.
(160) National PDS payment data are included for 2004–05 only and relate to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. Reliable PDS data at practice level are not available prior to 2004–05. The data cannot identify the cost of any PDS services that are directly managed by local NHS trusts, such as certain dental access centres.
(161) Payments are assigned to areas on the basis of practice postcode data.
(162) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.
(163) 1997–2000 data have been calculated using 2001 population data, as this is the earliest available. 2005 data have been calculated using 2004 population data, as this is the latest available.
Source: The Information Centre/Dental Practice Board
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many claims were received by the Dental Practice Board in each year since 1997; of these how many (a) attracted the maximum patient charge, (b) involved one filling only and (c) involved one crown only. [54501]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the number of claims for treatment by general dental services and personal dental services dentists in England that attracted the maximum patient charge, the number that involved one filling only (and no other treatment) and the number that involved one crown only (and no other treatment) in the year ending December for each of the specified years.
Source: Dental Practice Board
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Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of eligible dentists had accepted the NHS dental contract as at 31 March 2006; how many eligible dentists had declined to accept the new NHS dental contract, as at that date; and how many eligible dentists had not responded positively or negatively. [61644]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of new dental contracts signed account for around 96 per cent. of current national health service dental services. The contracts that have been rejected equate to around four per cent. of current NHS dental services. Many of the dentists who chose not to take up the contracts have a relatively small NHS commitment. Some of these services have already been re-commissioned by primary care trusts.
As of 7 April 2006, only 20 contract offers had not been responded to.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered with a dentist in the area of each primary care trust or its equivalent on 31 March (a) of 2006 and (b) of each year since 1997; and what proportion each figure represents of the resident population of each area. [61647]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: Data on the numbers of people registered with a general dental services and personal dental services dentist as at 31 December 2005 and each year since 1997 have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on NHS dentistry in Gloucestershire in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each of the last five years. [63340]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The main element of national health service dental services are the primary dental care services provided by dentists working within the general dental service (GDS), or personal dental service (PDS) pilots.
The tables show the available data on expenditure on these services for the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury primary care trust (PCT), Cotswold and Vale PCT and West Gloucestershire PCT. The difference between gross and net expenditure is the contribution to costs from dental charges collected directly from patients.
Note that data on PDS expenditure are only available for the financial year 2004–05.
(164) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments and point of treatment check payment training (in 2001 only), seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants and clinical audit payments. The following costs are excluded from this data: employer's superannuation costs, vocational trainee salaries and national insurance contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit secretarial support costs and travel expenses, and costs associated with any salaried general dental practitioners and emergency dental services.
(165) PDS payment data are included for 2004–05 only and relates to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. Reliable PDS data at practice level are not available prior to 2004–05. The data cannot identify the cost of any PDS services that are directly managed by local NHS trusts, such as certain dental access centres.
(166) Payments are assigned to areas on the basis of practice postcode data.
(167) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.
(168) Figures have been converted into 2005–06 prices using the most recent GDP deflator figures available.
(169) Note that data on PDS expenditure are only available for the financial year 2004–05 (n/a = not available).
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Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of dental practices no longer accepting NHS patients. [64035]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available by practice. The number of new dental contracts that have been rejected is 1,026, which equates to around 4 per cent. of current national health service dental services. Many of the dentists who chose not to take up the contracts had a relatively small NHS commitment and some of these services have already been re-commissioned by primary care trusts.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has carried out on the impact of the introduction of (a) tuition fees and (b) variable fees on the numbers of students applying for dentistry courses in England. [64261]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No specific research has been commissioned by the Department. However, the table shows that the numbers of applications to study pre-clinical dentistry has been steadily increasing each year.
| Number of applications | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 1,109 |
| 2002 | 1,243 |
| 2003 | 1,372 |
| 2004 | 1,545 |
| 2005 | 1,847 |
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many dentists have withdrawn from the new NHS dental contract since 31 March 2006; [64388]
(2) how many dentists had signed the new NHS dental contract on 31 March 2006. [64389]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
In England, as of 31 March 2006, the number of new dental contracts that have been rejected is 1,026, which equates to around four per cent.
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of current national health service dental services. Many of the dentists who chose not to take up the contracts had a relatively small NHS commitment and some of these services have already been re-commissioned by primary care trusts.
The number of new dental contracts that have been signed is 8,322.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the average level of personal debt for dentists graduating in each year from 1997 to 2005. [64428]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have been recruited overseas to work in NHS dentistry in England since April 2004; what methods her Department is using to promote the recruitment of dentists from overseas; and what the annual cost of this promotion is. [51908]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We do not hold information centrally on the total number of dentists working in the national health service who have been recruited from overseas.
Since April 2004, the Department has recruited 237 dentists from Poland and has supported the NHS in recruiting a further 297 dentists from other countries. In conjunction with the General Dental Council the Department has supported the recruitment of a further 230 dentists through the expansion of the number of sittings of the international qualifying examination and reducing the typical time taken to pass the examination from two years to one.
The Department liaised with the relevant embassies to help countries identify potential sources of recruitment and information regarding how to apply for vacancies in England was placed on British embassy websites and the
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NHS Careers and NHS Jobs websites. In addition, a £3.8 million contract was agreed with Methods Consulting for the recruitment of dentists from Poland.
The Department is not currently running a central international recruitment programme.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what software her Department used to calculate required units of dental activity (UDAs) for dental practitioners under the new regulations; what assumptions were made about current dental activity; and whether the estimate of UDAs has been calculated manually against dentists' activity in the last 12 months. [57524]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of units of dental activity (UDAs) to be provided was determined in accordance with the General Dental Services and Personal Dental Services Transitional Provisions Order 2005 (SI. No. 2005/3435). The data held in respect of the care and treatment previously provided under general dental services was categorised in accordance with the National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005 and the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 (SI. No. 2005/3361) then reduced by five per cent.
The information on treatments is held by the Business Services Authority, formally the Dental Practice Board, on an Oracle database and the UDAs were allocated using the Oracle Product Suite including PL/SQL.
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