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27 Feb 2008 : Column 1738W—continued
Dental Services
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who had veneers fitted to their teeth (a) with the costs covered by the NHS and (b) on referral by an NHS dentist to a private clinician in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by strategic health authority. [187622]
Ann Keen: This information is not available centrally.
Dental Services: Chesterfield
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) 18 to 65 and (b) under 18 year-olds were registered for NHS dental treatment in Chesterfield in each year since 1997; [187037]
(2) how many NHS dentists in Chesterfield (a) admitted new adult patients to their list and (b) treated NHS patients between the ages of 18 and 65 years in each of the last five years. [187038]
Ann Keen: Information on dental patients aged between 18 and 65 is currently not available. Information is available by child/adult where a child is defined as being aged 17 and under, and an adult is defined as being aged 18 and over.
Under the old contractual arrangements, which were in place until 1 April 2006, patients had to register with an individual national health service dentist to receive NHS care.
The numbers of adult and child patients registered with an NHS dentist at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) area are available in Annex A of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006. This provides data for 1997 to 2006.
This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
Under the new contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with a NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services, ‘patients seen’ over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The numbers of patients seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007 and 30 June 2007 are available in Table C1 of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England, Quarter 1: 30 June 2007 report. Information is available by PCT/SHA area, and by Child/Adult.
This report, published on 28 November 2007, is available in the Library and is also available at:
Both reports have been published by The Information Centre for health and social care.
Information on NHS dentists admitting new NHS adult patients to lists, and on NHS patients between
the ages of 18 and 65 years of age treated, can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were recruited to (a) part-time and (b) full-time NHS work in (i) Chesterfield Primary Care Trust and (ii) Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust area in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of such recruitment in each of the next three years. [187039]
Ann Keen: Information on recruitment of NHS dentists working part-time and full-time is not collected centrally.
The information on the number of dentists recruited by primary care trust (PCT) is based on the old contractual arrangements. To provide information on the new contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, could only be produced at disproportionate cost.
The following table shows the number of dentists leaving and joining Chesterfield PCT and Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire PCT between 2001 and 2006.
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | ||
| Notes: 1. Leaver means the dentist did not have an open general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract in March of the specified year but did have a GDS or PDS contract in England in March of the previous year. 2. New entrant means the dentist did have an open GDS or PDS contract in March of the specified year but did not have a GDS or PDS contract in England in March of the previous year. 3. A dentist may have joined a GDS or PDS contract within more than one PCT or strategic health authority (SHA) area, in which case they would appear in figures from each individual PCT or SHA area. The figures are based on GDS and PDS contracts. The dentists include principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have not been included in this analysis. The areas have been defined using practice postcodes. 4. A dentist with a GDS or GDS contract may provide as little or as much National Health Service treatment as he or she chooses or as agreed with the PCT. 5. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual dentists. 6. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning private dentists. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care NHS Business Services Authority, Dental Services Division | ||||||
Dental Services: Fees and Charges
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the revenue from patients’ charges (a) was in the last year of the previous NHS dental contracts and (b) has been in the first year of the new contract. [187461]
Ann Keen: A simplified system of banded national health service dental charges was introduced in 2006-07, alongside new commissioning and remuneration arrangements for NHS primary dental care services. Services were also evolving ahead of the changeover as increasing numbers of dental practices converted from the former general dental services (GDS) contract to personal dental service (PDS) pilots where remuneration was based on levels of care rather than item of service fees. However, levels of charge income reduced in PDS pilots because of the need to retain the old charge structure which was not calibrated to take account of the new ways of working stimulated by the new terms of service. This effect was particularly noticeable in 2005-06 when the number of PDS pilots reached their peak. The following table shows charge income for the four-year span 2003-04 to 2006-07 to give a perspective on these trends ahead of the adoption of the new charge structure in April 2006.
| Income from NHS dental charges, England | ||
| Dental charge income (£ million) | Dental charge income as a proportion of the gross cost of primary dental care services (Percentage) | |
| Note: Charge income totals are compiled from NHS accounts data and represent income collected in the former GDS, PDS pilots, and from April 2006, all primary dental care services provided under the unified commissioning arrangements managed by primary care trusts. | ||
Dental Services: Finance
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance is given by the NHS to help newly qualified or returning dentists set up and equip dental practices. [188315]
Ann Keen: Dentists wishing to operate as independent contractors and planning to establish a new dental practice or surgery would generally fund the facilities themselves and secure an appropriate return on their investment from their annual service contract with their primary care trust (PCT) to provide an agreed level of national health service dental services. However, PCTs may offer dentists assistance with the start up costs of establishing new dental practices at their discretion, if they consider this appropriate and necessary. The Government have also made £100 million capital funds available to PCTs over the two years 2006-07 and 2007-08 to give them additional scope to help dentists modernise or expand dental practices for the benefit of NHS patients.
Mr. Brady:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much was spent on NHS dental provision in (a) Manchester and (b) Birmingham in (i) total and
(ii) per head of population in the latest period for which figures are available; [187620]
(2) what the cost was of dental provision per head of population in the strategic health authorities covering (a) the five most deprived areas in England where water is fluoridated and (b) the five most deprived areas in England where water is not fluoridated in the latest period for which figures are available. [187621]
Ann Keen: The information requested is shown in the following tables. Fluoridation of water offers the best prospect of reducing inequalities in oral health, but comparisons between expenditure levels in different areas are affected by a number of factors. There is no simple and direct relationship between expenditure levels and relative oral health needs. The legacy of the previous general dental service contract is that the pattern of services largely reflects where dentists previously chose to set up in practice, and how much national health service dental work they chose to undertake. In addition, levels of patient demand for dental care may not necessarily reflect levels of oral health need. The Department has no data on the levels of private dental care provided in different areas. Expenditure per head is calculated from resident population figures, but patients may attend dental surgeries outside their areas of residence.
| Gross expenditure on primary dental care (PDC) in Manchester and Birmingham in 2006-07 | ||
| Primary care trust (PCT) | 2006-07 gross expenditure on primary dental care (£000) | 2006-07 gross expenditure on primary dental care per head of population (£) |
| Notes: 1. Expenditure figures are based on the aggregate gross expenditure on primary dental care reported by PCTs with their 2006-07 end of year accounts. 2. Expenditure per head figures are based on the aggregate gross expenditure on primary dental care and the Office of National Statistics 2006 mid year population figures. | ||
| Gross expenditure on PDC in strategic health (SHAs) authorities with the most deprived PCT areas receiving fluoridated or non fluoridated water supplies (2006-07 figures) | |||
| SHA receiving proportion of fluoridated water supplies | 2006-07 Gross expenditure on primary dental care per head of population (£) | SHA Receiving no or few fluoridated water supplies | 2006-07 Gross expenditure on primary dental care per head of population (£) |
| Notes: 1. The five PCTs which receive fluoridated water supplies and have the highest deprivation scores are South Birmingham, Heart of Birmingham Teaching, Birmingham East and North, and Wolverhampton PCTs (within the area of the West Midlands SHA), and Hartlepool PCT (within the area of the North East SHA). The five PCTs with the highest deprivation scores which do not receive fluoridated water supplies are Liverpool, Manchester, and Knowsley PCTs (within the area of the North West SHA), and City and Hackney Teaching and Tower Hamlets PCTs (within the area of the London SHA). 2. The distribution of fluoridated water supplies is not entirely uniform even across those SHAs which have the highest proportions of fluoridated areas. | |||
Departmental Databases
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what obligations his Department and its agencies place on contractors in relation to the audit of personal data and IT equipment. [176463]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department and its agencies have non-disclosure agreements with their contractors and contractual obligations for them to permit and facilitate any audit of personal data and IT equipment. Contracts include terms and conditions covering confidentiality, data protection and freedom of information.
Departmental Official Residences
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ministerial residences were available to his Department’s Ministers in each of the last 10 years. [183181]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 19 February 2008, Official Report column 688W.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average hourly rate his Department paid to employment agencies for agency staff in each year since 1999, broken down by employment agency. [187914]
Mr. Bradshaw: The average hourly rates paid to employment agencies for agency staff in January 2008 are shown in the following table. These rates cover staff of different grades, with various skill levels, working in a range of locations.
| £ | |
| Employment agency | Average hourly rate |
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