§ Mrs. HumbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when primary care trusts will take control of the dental services budget to enable them to carry out their duty of care to deliver primary dental services under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. [176705]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe £1.3 billion financial resources (2003–04) currently held centrally will be transferred to primary care trusts to coincide with the implementation of the new contractual framework for national health service dentistry. Following a consultation with representative bodies of the dental profession on our "Framework Proposals for Primary Care Dental Services in England", we are currently considering whether any revision to the original timetable of April 2005 is necessary.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been provided to NHS dentists in the Adur, Arun and Worthing primary care trust area in each of the last three years. [178304]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe gross and net fees paid to dentists for the provision of general dental services (GDS) for 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 is shown in the table.
Before October 2002, Adur, Arun and Worthing was part of the West Sussex health authority area. These figures exclude some payments to dentists such as commitment payments, maternity and seniority payments as well as superannuation payments made on their behalf.
999W
National health service dental service: gross and net fees paid in the GDS for the years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 £million year Health authority (HA)/primary care trust (PCT) Gross fees Net fees1 2001–02 to first half of 2002–03 Year ending March 2002 West Sussex HA 31.6 23.4 April 2002 to September 2002 West Sussex HA 16.0 11.9 2002–03—second half to 2003–04 October 2002 to March 2003 Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT 3.3 2.2 Year ending March 2004 Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT 7.0 4.5 1Excludes patient charge. Note: Community, personal and hospital dental services have not been included in this table as these are not funded separately from other services.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have access to NHS dentists in the Adur, Arun and Worthing primary care trust area; and what percentage of the potential target group this figure represents. [178305]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThere are 99,000 patients registered with the general dental service (GDS) dentists in the Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust area at 31 March 2004.
This represents 46 per cent., of the population of Adur, Arun and Worthing.
Registration numbers cover patients who have registered with a GDS dentist and attended the dentist within the past 15 months. They do not include some patients who choose to attend less often.
National health service dental services are also provided by the community dental service, personal dental service, salaried service of the GDS and the hospital dental service. These services do not require the patient to be registered with a dentist.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to(a) support and (b) promote NHS dentistry in Crosby. [177857]
§ Mr. HuttonThe proposals in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 in relation to primary dental services represent the most radical reform of national health service dentistry since 1948. They will give a better deal for patients, for dentists and for the NHS. Under these proposals, primary care trusts (PCTs) have a duty to secure the provision of primary dental services.
Nationally, we have provided new investment totalling £90 million over the last year. £59 million will support access, and strategic health authorities (SHAs) have been advised of their shares and are working with their primary care trusts to address access issues. £30 million is to support information technology and the balance of £1 million will support organisational development locally.
1000WThe PCTs across Merseyside are working closely with the Cheshire and Merseyside SHA supported by the shadow Special Health Authority (dentistry) to improve local dental access using their share of the access funds: some £2.64 million in 2004–05.
NHS Direct receives about 19,000 calls per month related to dentistry (at March 2004). Reports from the NHS suggest that about 91 per cent, of callers to NHS Direct are being advised of available sources of NHS dentistry within locally agreed standards.
The number of dentists working in the General Dental Services (GDS) is increasing. On 30 March 2004, there were 19,313 dentists in England, up from 16,728 in 1997. Activity in the GDS has been stable. Around 60 per cent., of all general practice dentists offer 90 per cent., or more NHS care. Some 25 per cent., of all general practice dentists offer NHS care exclusively.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average distance for people to access NHS dentists is in(a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby. [177859]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe average distance to a General Dental Service surgery is 0.54 miles for people living in Merseyside and 0.34 miles for people living in Crosby.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when discussions with the Governments of(a) Poland, (b) Germany, (c) Denmark and (d) Spain on the recruitment of dentists from their countries began; [178270]
(2) if he will list the recruitment agencies used to recruit dentists from (a) Poland, (b) Germany, (c) Denmark and (d) Spain; and what the cost of using them has been to date; [178272]
(3) if he will list the countries with which his Department is in discussion regarding the recruitment of overseas dentists to work in the UK; and how far advanced these discussions are in each case; [178274]
(4) pursuant to the Oral statement by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Doncaster, Central of 11 May 2004, Official Report, column 22WH, on dentists, how many dentists he expects to recruit from (a) Poland, (b) Germany, (c) Denmark and (d) Spain this year. [178278]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonA Government to Government agreement exists to recruit healthcare professionals from Spain. On this basis, plans are currently being developed to recruit dentists but no assessment of numbers has been made.
The Department has signed an agreement to recruit at least 110 dentists from Poland and other parts of Europe via methods consulting. My right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health (Mr. Hutton) met with Polish Ministers in March to discuss matters of mutual interest. Discussions on the recruitment of dentists have since been followed up at official level.
Earlier this month, the Department, at the request of the Danish employment service, provided information to Danish dentists wishing to work in England.
1001WDepartmental officials met with their Indian counterparts in April and discussed how to improve the registration process for dentists who wish to practice in the United Kingdom.
The number of dentists to be recruited from Poland, Denmark and Spain is not yet known.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what complaints he has received from(a) EU countries and (b) non-EU countries about the active recruitment of overseas dentists; and if he will make a statement. [178409]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe Department is not aware of any complaints about the recruitment of overseas dentists.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral statement of the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton), of 11 May,Official Report, column 22WH, how many overseas dentists he expects to start working in (a) the community dental service, (b) the general dental service and (c) hospital dental services; and if he will make a statement. [178566]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe Department's international recruitment campaign will focus on filling vacant posts within primary care dentistry. It is too soon to predict which parts of the national health service recruits will work in.