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17 Dec 2007 : Column 1198W—continued
Carers
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 665W, what information regarding (a) providers and (b) receivers of unpaid care is collected (i) centrally and (ii) by local authorities. [173554]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on carers are collected centrally through the census. In 2001 the census showed that in England and Wales, there were 5.2 million carers, one in 10 of the population. Data on the number of people being cared for are not held centrally.
It is for local authorities to collect data on the number of carers and those needing care in order to inform service provision. It is the responsibility of local health and social care organisations to prioritise and allocate funding for support and services for carers based and disabled people on their assessment of the needs of their local populations.
Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients: Death
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people detained under the Mental Health Act have died in NHS mental health accommodation from (a) natural and (b) non-natural causes in each of the last five years. [173876]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The Mental Health Act Commission asks trusts to supply information on those cases where someone dies who is detained under the Mental Health
Act. Their information on the total number of in-patient deaths, broken down into natural and unnatural, in national health service mental health accommodation in England from 2002 to 2006 is shown in the following table.
| Unnatural | Natural | Total | |
| (1) Includes Wales. Source: The Mental Health Act Commission | |||
Corporate Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions he has accepted corporate hospitality in the last 12 months. [171299]
Mr. Bradshaw: Chapter 7 of the “Ministerial Code” sets out the rules on the registration of hospitality.
Dental Health
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the information provided by the adult dental health survey in assessing dental health. [174212]
Ann Keen: The adult dental health survey provides a picture of the nation’s dental health. Successive surveys provide important information on changes in the oral health of the adult population over time. A number of areas also carry out more detailed local oral health assessments to inform their service provision. All primary care trusts are encouraged under the new dental system to include a local oral health needs assessment as part of their overall commissioning plans.
Dental Services
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the new general dental services contract upon (a) access to care, (b) quality of care, (c) the level of oral health and (d) the quality of the patient experience. [173780]
Ann Keen [holding answer 13 December 2007]: The Department has assessed the impact of the first year of the dental reforms in the report “NHS Dental Reforms: One year on”. This report, published on 7 August 2007, is available in the Library. It is also available online at:
The report set out how the first year of the dental reforms helped lay much more secure foundations for dental services. The report also set out how primary care trusts are already using their new responsibilities for commissioning dental services to improve access, quality, patient experience, oral health outcomes and
value for money and how the Department is working with the national health service and other stakeholders to support further progress in all these areas.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of patient registration on (a) access to NHS dental services and (b) continuity of dental care. [174211]
Ann Keen: The measure used by the Department to monitor access to national health service dental services is the number of people who receive care or treatment from NHS primary dental care services at least once in a two year period. Information for the latest 24 month period for which figures are available, 1 July 2005—30 June 2007, show access within 99 per cent. of the level seen in the last 24 month period before the reforms, the period ending 31 March 2006. Given 3.6 per cent. of existing activity had to be re-commissioned at the start of the new system, with a resulting temporary loss of access for some 900,000 patients these figures suggest the abolition of registration has, as expected, had no adverse effect on access to services.
The latest information for the 24 months ending 30 June 2007 can be found in table Cl, Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter 1:30 June 2007” report.
A copy is available in the Library, and can also be found at:
We have had no reports of an adverse effect of the abolition of registration as part of the national remuneration system and we have no reason to expect this. Registration as a central requirement was only introduced in 1990. Before then dentists held their own patient lists and there is no reason not to expect them to continue to do so.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department defines access to NHS dental services. [174214]
Ann Keen: The measure used by the Department to monitor access to national health service dental services is the number of people who receive care or treatment from NHS primary dental care services at least once in a two year period. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends that adults attend the dentist at least once every two years. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) in England to assess local needs for NHS dental services and to commission or provide services in ways that meet these needs.
The number of patients seen in the most recent 24 month period is published regularly by the Information Centre for health and social care. The latest information for the 24 months ending 30 June 2007 can be found in table Cl, Annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter 1: 30 June 2007” report.
A copy is available in the Library, and can also be found at:
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what indicators his Department recommends primary care trusts use, in addition to units of dental activity, to assess (a) levels of (i) access, (ii) oral health and (iii) quality of service and (b) the patient experience provided. [174215]
Ann Keen: The Department expects primary care trusts (PCTs) to assess level of access to local dental services on the number of patients receiving care or treatment from a national health service dentist in the previous 24 month period as set out in the NHS Operating Framework. PCTs have responsibility for commissioning dental services to meet local need. This includes ensuring services are of robust quality and address local oral health needs. Guidance has been issued to PCTs setting out the additional range of indicators they may wish to include when looking at provision of local dental services.
Dental Services: Children
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many five-year-olds were given a general anaesthetic for dental treatment in England in each of the last five years. [173778]
Ann Keen [holding answer 13 December 2007]: This information is not held centrally. Dental treatment under general anaesthesia may only take place in a hospital setting that has a critical-care facility. Hospital Episode Statistics show the dental procedure carried out but not whether a general anaesthetic was administered.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged (a) 12 and (b) five years had decayed, missing and filled teeth in England in each of the last five years. [173779]
Ann Keen [holding answer 13 December 2007]: National health service dental health surveys of five-year-old and 12-year-old children are normally conducted every other year and the information available centrally is provided in the following table.
| Percentage | |
| D ecayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) | |
| Source: The figures are taken from the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry Survey Reports. | |
Departmental Board
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W on the Departmental Board, if he will place in the Library a copy of the report referred to in paragraph 6.1 of the minutes of the meeting held in January 2007. [172440]
Mr. Bradshaw: The report “Explaining NHS Deficits, 2003/04-2005/06” was published on 20 February and is available in the Library.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W on the Departmental Board, if he will place in the Library all papers, including the agenda and minutes, for the meeting referred to in paragraph 1.4 of the minutes of the meeting of his Departmental Board in January 2007. [172441]
Mr. Bradshaw: No papers were prepared for this meeting, which was an oral briefing event for staff in the Department.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W on the Departmental Board, what the outcomes of the leak inquiries referred to in paragraph 1.3 of the minutes of the meeting held in January 2007 were. [172442]
Mr. Bradshaw: It has been the practice of successive governments not to comment on the subject or outcome of leak inquiries as there is a continued necessity to safeguard security and investigative arrangements.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W on the Departmental Board, what issues were put to Ministers as areas where his Department might increase its focus, following the discussion referred to in paragraph 3.1 of the minutes of the meeting held in June 2007. [172444]
Mr. Bradshaw: This work was subsumed into wider briefing covering the full range of issues facing the new ministerial team at the end of June 2007.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W on the Departmental Board, what the outcome of the work programme to assess the fitness for purpose of his Department's capital regime was; and what reports or other papers were produced as part of this work programme. [172446]
Mr. Bradshaw: This work is being taken forward as part of the national health service next stage review.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 711W, on the Departmental Board, what communications were issued to NHS staff in response to the decision noted in paragraph 2.2 of the meeting held in February. [172447]
Mr. Bradshaw: This message was incorporated into a range of regular communications and speeches, including the national health service chief executive’s regular bulletins.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of his Department's (a) computers and (b) laptops have been stolen in 2007; and what the value of those items was. [168590]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not differentiate between lost or stolen equipment therefore the figures quoted include both categories.
The number of computers lost or stolen between 1 January 2007 and 23 November 2007 is none.
The number of laptops lost or stolen between 1 January 2007 and 23 November 2007 is 15. The value of the lost or stolen laptops is estimated to be £15,175.44 with individual laptops ranging in value from £1,003.09 to £1,088.84.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will break down the £141 million his Department spent on consultants in 2006-07, by consultancy company. [167835]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not collect information in the format requested. To do so would attract disproportionate cost.
A new system will be introduced in April 2008 called SHOWA, which will be able to gather such information for the Department.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many management and other consultants are employed by his Department. [170616]
Mr. Bradshaw: As at the end of September 2007, there were 165 consultants funded within the Department’s administrative budget.
Outside the Department’s administrative budget, programme or Vote 1 funding was used to pay for consultants and contractors. As at end of September 2007 we had some 427 consultants and contractors on such funding working on implementation of front line service delivery.
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