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21 Nov 2007 : Column 989W—continued
Community Nurses
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the additional £30 million for the Family Nurse Partnership that his Department announced on 31 October 2007 was allocated between NHS trusts; [162761]
(2) how many (a) additional families will benefit and (b) additional hours of nurses’ time will be provided as a result of the additional £30 million that his Department announced on 31 October 2007 for the Family Nurse Partnership. [162762]
Ann Keen: We are currently considering options for expansion of the Family Nurse Partnership in England following the allocation to the programme of an additional £30 million over the comprehensive spending review period. We expect to make an announcement before the end of the year.
Dental Services: Barnet
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices in Barnet treat NHS patients; how many patients in Barnet are unable to access NHS dental treatment; how many dental practices ceased to provide NHS treatment in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement. [162992]
Ann Keen: The National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Dental Services Division (DSD) can only provide validated information on national health service dental practices at disproportionate cost.
Since April 2006, patients no longer have to be registered with a dental practice to receive NHS care and treatment. The closest equivalent current measure is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The numbers of patients seen in the 24 month periods ending 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table Cl of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report. Information is available at Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trusts per area in England.
The number of NHS dentists as at 31 March 2007 are available in Table E2 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report.
Information is available at SHA and PCT area in England.
The report is available in the Library and is also available at:
Dental Services: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental surgeries offer free dental care in West Chelmsford parliamentary constituency; and how many did so in May 1997. [162067]
Ann Keen: The National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Dental Services Division (DSD) can only provide validated information on the number of national health service dental practices within a constituency offering NHS dental care at disproportionate cost. Some NHS treatment attracts patient charges.
The number of dentists is available in Annex G of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England 31 March 2006”. This report has been placed in the Library.
Information is available at strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) area in England 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006.
Information is based on the old contractual arrangements. The report is also available at:
The number of NHS dentists year ending 31 March 2007 are available in Table E2 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report. Information is available at SHA and PCT area in England.
Since April 2006, patients no longer have to be registered with a dental practice to receive NHS care and treatment.
The closest equivalent current measure is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The numbers of patients seen in the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table Cl of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report. Information is available at SHA and PCT area in England.
This report has been placed in the Library and is also available at
Dental Services: Cumbria
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were registered for NHS dentistry services in the (a) Cumbria primary care trust and (b) Morecambe Bay primary care trust in each year since 1997. [162019]
Ann Keen: Since April 2006, patients no longer have to be registered with a dental practice to receive national health service care and treatment.
The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
Patients registered with an NHS dentist are available in Annex A of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. This report has been placed in the Library.
Information is available at strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) area in England 31 March 1997—31 March 2006.
Information is based on the old contractual arrangements. The report is also available at:
As from 1 October 2006, Morecambe Bay PCT was split and the rural sector has been integrated into Cumbria PCT. Carlisle and District PCT, Eden Valley PCT and West Cumbria PCT also came together then to form the new Cumbria PCT. The remaining sector of Morecambe Bay PCT integrated into North Lancashire PCT.
The numbers of patients seen in the 24 month periods ending 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table C1 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report. Information is available at SHA and PCT area in England.
This report has been placed in the House of Commons Library and is also available on-line at
Both reports are published by the Information Centre for health and social care.
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists on NHS contracts were registered in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland in each year since 2001. [163014]
Ann Keen: Numbers of national health service dentists at parliamentary constituency, primary care trusts (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) area as at 31 March 2001 to 2006 are available in Annex E and G of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England 31 March 2006”.
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements. This report has been placed in the Library and is available at
The numbers of NHS dentists at PCT and SHA level as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table E1 of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2006-07” report. Constituency level data can only be made available at disproportionate cost.
This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. The report is available in the Library and is also available at:
The inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms means that data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system.
My hon. Friend should note that the numbers quoted are headcounts and do not differentiate between full and part-time dentists. Nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
Both reports have been published by the Information Centre for health and social care.
Dental Services: Eastbourne
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are registered with NHS dentists in Eastbourne constituency. [165339]
Ann Keen: The information requested by the hon. Member is not held centrally by the Department.
Since April 2006, patients no longer have to be registered with a national heath service dental practice to receive NHS care and treatment.
The closest equivalent current measure is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The numbers of patients seen in the 24 month periods ending 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table Cl of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07 report. Information is available for strategic health authority and primary care trust areas, in England, but not at constituency level.
The report is available in the Library and is also available at:
Dental Services: Fees and Charges
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the scale of charges NHS dentists are entitled to charge NHS patients is; and if he will make a statement. [162554]
Ann Keen: There are three standard charges for all national health service primary care dental treatment. The Band One course of treatment is priced at £15.90. This covers an examination, diagnosis (eg: x-rays), advice on how to prevent future problems, and a scale and polish if necessary. Urgent treatment also costs £15.90.
The Band Two course of treatment is priced at £43.60. This covers everything listed in Band One, plus any further treatment such as fillings, root canal work or the extraction of one or more teeth.
The Band Three course of treatment is priced at £194.00. This covers everything listed in Bands One and Two, plus crowns, dentures or bridges.
These are the only charges dentists are entitled to charge fee paying patients for NHS treatment. Prior to the new patient charges introduced by the dental reforms, there were over 400 charges linked to individual items of treatment. The reforms have halved the maximum possible patient charge from £389 under the old system, to £194.
However, not all NHS patients must pay for their treatment. Children, pregnant women and people on income support are all exempt.
Dental Services: Finance
Mike Penning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what Government (a) grants and (b) loans were made to NHS dental clinics in each NHS trust in
each of the last five years; whether conditions on practising within the NHS were attached to each; and if he will make a statement. [163402]
Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally. Conditions on loans and grants are a matter for the primary care trust making the loan or grant.
Dental Services: Manpower
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there were per head of population in each English constituency in each year since 1997. [165282]
Ann Keen: The information required is not available at constituency level. However, numbers of persons per NHS dentist at strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) level as at 31 March 1997 annually to 31 March 2006 are available in Annex F of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England 31 March 2006”.
This information is based on contractual arrangements prior to 31 March 2006. This report is available in the Library and is available at
The numbers of national health service dentists per 100,000 persons at PCT and SHA level as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table El of Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07” report.
This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. The report is available in the Library and is available at
However, data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system owing to the inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms.
Published numbers are headcounts and do not differentiate between full and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
Both reports have been published by the information centre for health and social care.
Departmental Correspondence
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's targets are for answering correspondence from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public. [165696]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Cabinet Office publishes guidance for Departments on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs, and Members of Devolved Assemblies. The target set by the Cabinet Office for responding to correspondence from hon. Members is a maximum of 20 working days. The Department target for replying to correspondence from both hon. Members and members of the public is 20 working days.
Departmental Cost-Effectiveness
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what efficiency savings projects his Department put in place under the Spending Review 2004 targets; on what date each was initiated; how much each was expected to contribute to the target; how much was saved by each; and if he will make a statement. [164176]
Mr. Bradshaw: Details of projects contributing to the Department’s efficiency target for the 2004 Spending Review (SR04) are provided in our Efficiency Technical Note (ETN), published in December 2005, a copy of which is available in the Library, and is also available on the Department’s website at
The ETN sets out the predicted contribution of each of the main groups of projects (workstreams). It also indicates the scale of expected contribution for each project. It does not specifically indicate individual project start dates.
The ETN makes clear that the efficiency programme would continue to evolve during the delivery period with the inclusion of opportunities identified after 2005, and potential changes in the relative contributions of different workstreams and projects.
We delayed republishing the ETN pending final agreements with HM Treasury and the National Audit Office regarding a few areas of measurement, which have now been agreed. The updated document is almost complete and will be published prior to our next planned reporting of progress in our autumn performance report in December. It will include project start dates. A copy of the final publication will also be placed on the Department’s website and is in the Library.
Contributing projects had delivered the following savings at the end of June 2007.
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