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3. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded.
4. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas.
Sources:
The Information Centre for health and social care
NHS Business Services Authority
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the index of orthodontic treatment need is used in the allocation of resources. [80683]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Resources for primary dental services, including orthodontic services, have been allocated to primary care trusts for 2006-07 on the basis of expenditure on general dental services and personal dental services during the reference period October 2004 to September 2005, adjusted for pay uplifts and with some allowance for subsequent growth in services.
The index of orthodontic treatment need is not designed as a basis for resource allocation, but as a way of ensuring that needs assessment is carried out more fairly and that resources are targeted on those with the greatest needs.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the (a) demand for and (b) supply of orthodontic specialists in the United Kingdom for each of the next 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [80684]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is now the responsibility of the strategic health authorities to assess future work force needs and make decisions on number of training places. In 2005, the work force review team, which works on behalf of the national health service to co-ordinate and synthesise information about the health work force in England, made estimates for the requirement for the numbers of whole time equivalent hospital based orthodontic consultants and projections for staff in post as follows:
| Requirement | Orthodontic consultants | |
Orthodontic specialists work in both hospitals and primary care settings including high street dental practices. The new commissioning arrangements introduced in April 2006 will in the future enable primary care trusts (PCTs) to plan and commission services across primary and secondary care trusts. We are looking to develop services outside hospital by encouraging PCTs to contract with specialists working in the community and, where appropriate, general dental practitioners with a special interest in orthodontics.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from orthodontists regarding the impact of running costs on practices under the new dental contract; and if she will make a statement. [80685]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The representations that the Department has received from orthodontists have focused largely on new or growing orthodontic practices, where the value of their most recent national health service caseload (prior to the implementation of the recent dental reforms) exceeds their NHS earnings during the October 2004 to September 2005 reference period used for calculating minimum guaranteed contract values under the new arrangements. It is for primary care trusts to decide locally whether and, if so, how far to adjust contract values in these circumstances, based on assessment of local needs and taking into account local priorities.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the new dental contract arrangements on access to orthodontic treatment; and if she will make a statement. [80686]
Ms Rosie Winterton: New arrangements are designed to provide a more consistent method of assessing orthodontic needs and enable primary care trusts (PCTs) to target resources more accurately on children with the greatest needs.
PCTs will need to form a local view on whether to reduce, maintain or increase the level of orthodontic activity commissioned from dentists in line with the local population’s needs and local priorities. It is too early to make any assessment of changes in levels of access to orthodontic treatment.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people were registered with an NHS dentist on 29 June in each constituency in England. [81211]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected in the form requested.
Information will be available in due course via the NHS business services authority on the numbers of patients who receive care or treatment from national health service primary care dentists on one or more occasions within a given period of time. This will provide a measure that is broadly similar to that of patient registration under the former system of general dental services. We expect the first information to be available in the autumn.
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the UK Government have objected to the European Medical Devices Expert Group’s recommendation that a statement of conformity be given to the patient from his or her dentist on supply of a custom-made dental appliance. [82152]
Andy Burnham: This proposal which was madeby the European Commission as part of their recommendations to amend the medical devices directive 93/42/EC, is still under negotiation between member states in the Council of Ministers working group and no final decision has been reached. The United Kingdom Government will implement whatever amendment is made to the directive in this respect once it has been ratified by the European Parliament.
Departmental Annual Reports
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in her Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case. [75113]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As part of the annual staff appraisal process, the performance of individuals is classified against one of the four performance related pay categories, where box one is the highest category marking, box four being the lowest. The number of staff who received a box marking of three and four is shown in the table.
| Number unacceptable | Percentage | |
| Notes: Box
three—most but not all objectives have been met, meaning that
performance is stronger in some parts of the job than in others and
further development needs can be identified and performance
improvements made to reach good all round standards. These needs must
have been communicated to the individual during the appraisal year. Box
four—overall performance is weak and objectives are not being
met. Development opportunities have not had a significant effect. By
this stage, the individual concerned should have been counselled and
been must have been aware that their work is unsatisfactory in both
discussion and in
writing. | ||
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of staff in her Department are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension. [72992]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Members of the principal civil service pension scheme (PCSPS) can pay additional contributions to top up their pension either through the civil service additional voluntary contributions scheme (CSAVCS), a money purchase arrangement, or by buying added years of service in the PCSPS. As an alternative to membership of the PCSPS recruits from 1 October 2002 have been able to join a stakeholder arrangement, the partnership pension account.
The number and percentage of staff in the Department who are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension as at 30 April 2006 is shown in the table.
| Number | Percentage | |
Diabetes
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people with diabetes in England have been provided with structured patient education in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006; [79374]
(2) how many primary care trusts are delivering National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for structured education for people with diabetes. [79375]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally. However, from January 2006, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s (NICE) health technology appraisal No 60—“Guidance on the use of patient education models for diabetes” requires all primary care trusts to implement NICE recommendations by providing all people with diabetes with high quality, structured education. Compliance with NICE health technology appraisals is a core standard and is assessed by the Healthcare Commission as part of its annual health check.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings her Department’s Commercial Directorate held with her Department’s diabetes policy team about the potential impact on patient care of the Drug Tariff Part IX consultation before 24 October 2005; and how many such meetings have been held since that date. [81109]
Andy Burnham: A formal meeting was held between Dr. Sue Roberts, national clinical director for diabetes, on 21 June 2006 with representatives from the Department’s commercial directorate and the pricing and supply directorate.
Digital Hearing Aids
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to introduce a minimum waiting time of 18 weeks for patients in need of a hearing aid. [82194]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South(Mr. Hancock) on 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 604W.
Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received on the decision not to renew the contract for the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. [76552]
Andy Burnham: At 27 June, the Department has received 1,282 letters regarding the decision not to renew its contract for the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.
Hon. Members and peers have also tabled 14 and 10 parliamentary questions respectively to the Houses on this issue.
Gender Dysphoria
Lynne
Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health what choices of provider are available for those referred for
assessment, counselling and treatment, including surgery, for gender
dysphoria and related gender role
anxieties and conditions; whether the achievement of national waiting
list targets apply to such referrals; and if she will make a statement.
[78616]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The care and treatment pathway for people with gender dysphoria and related conditions usually begins with the patient's referral by their general practitioner to a psychiatrist or psychologist for assessment. If the referral is to a consultant psychiatrist, national waiting targets will apply.
Mental health services are not currently required to offer a choice of provider at the point of referral. If, following an appropriate period of assessment, gender reassignment surgery is recommended, that is usually the subject of a consultant to consultant referral which is also outside the scope of the requirement to offer a choice of provider.
The Department recognises that transsexualism is a medical condition and that the availability of gender reassignment surgery should be dependent on the clinical need of the individual patient. Primary care trusts commission gender dysphoria and surgery services on the basis of their assessment of the needs of their populations and available service capacity.
Health Services (Stoke-on-Trent)
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation has been made of dental health for under five year olds in (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England. [80599]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information available centrally shows that average number of decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMFT) among five year olds in the area of South and North Stoke on Trent primary care trust (PCT) is 2.01, compared to 0.97 for West Midlands and 1.49 in England as a whole.
We have also taken note of the fact that Oldbury and Smethwick PCT, which has similar social profile to North Stoke, but receives fluoridated water, has a DMFT of 0.93. Changes we have made in the legislative framework governing fluoridation give communities with high levels of dental decay a real option of having their water fluoridated.
Independent Sector Treatment Centres
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the potential percentage increase is in the capacity for elective procedures in each relevant area for each independent sector treatment centre that has reached invitation to negotiate stage or beyond. [79280]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Invitations to negotiate have been issued for 14 schemes which are proceeding on current indicative figures which are approximate and subject to commercial negotiation.
Total elective activity in England in 2004-05 was 5,577,523 first finished consultant episodes. In total, the phase two procurement is expected to provide 250,000 elective procedures per annum, which would be an increase in capacity of approximately 5 per cent. This is in addition to the capacity from the first wave of independent sector treatment centres.
Influenza
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2006, Official Report, column 1940W, on influenza, whether the invitation to tender indicated a preference for UK rather than overseas manufacture. [80824]
Ms Rosie Winterton: European Union procurement regulations do not allow us to specify a preference for United Kingdom rather than overseas manufacture in our invitation to tender.
Insulin Inhalers
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate (a) the extra number of NHS psychiatrists that would be needed and (b) the extra cost that would be incurred to implement the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s proposals for psychiatric testing for the prescription of insulin inhalers. [81108]
Andy Burnham: A second appraisal committee decision on inhaled insulin from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was published on 21 June for consultation. This doesnot constitute the NICE’S formal guidance on this technology. The recommendations made are preliminary and may change after consultation.
Leftover Prescription Drugs
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) advertising and (b) information campaigns her Department has conducted on how to return (i) unused, (ii) unopened and (iii) leftover prescription drugs in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [81431]
Andy Burnham: The Department actively promotes safe use, storage and return of unused, unopened and unwanted medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal. Since the introduction of the new community pharmacy contractual framework from 1 April 2005, the collection and disposal of unwanted medicines has been an essential service provided by all community pharmacies.
Information on the safe use, storage and return of unused and left over medicines has been included on the NHS Direct website. The NHS Direct self-help guide in the Thompson local directory, which has been distributed to 17 million households across England from April 2006, has a full-page advert encouraging people to return old and unwanted medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal. Messages about safe use, storage and disposal of medicines were also included in the “Ask About Medicines Week” campaign in November 2005.
Macmillan Nurses
Mr.
Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health what advice she has offered primary care trusts on
whether they should fund Macmillan nurses after the initial period of
funding provided by the Macmillan Cancer Support organisation.
[81077]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No central guidance has been issued to primary care trusts (PCTs) on whether they should fund Macmillan nurses after the initial period funding from Macmillan Cancer Support.
It is for trusts to decide how many nurses, including palliative care nurse specialists, are employed in each specialty within hospitals. It is for local cancer networks, working in partnership with PCTs, strategic health authorities and their workforce development directorates, to assess, plan and review their workforce, education and training needs for all staff linked to the delivery of local and national priorities for cancer.
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