Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were (1) the total contracted Units of Dental Activity, and (2) the average value of a contracted Unit of Dental Activity per capita, in England in each year since the current dental contract was introduced in 2006.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The total contracted units of dental activity for England and by region can be found in the table, which is attached owing to the size of the data. We do not hold the average value of contracted unit of dental activity per capita in England or by region.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the assessment of the new dental contract prototypes.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The evaluation report on the first full year of prototyping is due to be published by the end of this year. Evaluation of the dental contract prototype scheme is led by Eric Rooney, Deputy Chief Dental Officer for England, with an evidence and learning reference group, which includes external members.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current length of time dentists applying to join the National Dental Performers List have to wait to have their application processed by Capita.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England is responsible for the National Dental Performers list and currently do not hold information centrally on how many applications have been received from individuals wishing to join the National Dental Performers list. Information on the length of time to process applications is therefore currently not available.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help resolve any issues Capita is experiencing managing the process of applications to the National Dental Performers List.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Capita has made NHS England aware of a number of issues involving the National Dental Performers List process. Immediate action has been taken to put in place plans to recover the services, and NHS England has provided a team of experts to support Capita’s work, both in managing existing functions more effectively and improving the service for the future.
The actions Capita are taking to stabilise and recover the service include:
- Recruiting additional staff and developing staff knowledge through further training and development supported by external experts;
- Standardising the processes used and work tracking tools;
- More proactive communication to applicants regarding the progress of their application; and
- Developing the internal integrated work management system to enable Performers List work to be tracked and work-flowed through the process.
NHS England is meeting with Capita on a weekly basis to oversee the delivery of these plans and to ensure the right improvements are in place.
My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Nicola Blackwood), will continue to work with Capita and NHS England to ensure that services are restored to an acceptable and sustainable standard.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Capita's performance in administering the National Dental Performers List.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Capita has made NHS England aware of a number of issues involving the National Dental Performers List process. Immediate action has been taken to put in place plans to recover the services, and NHS England has provided a team of experts to support Capita’s work, both in managing existing functions more effectively and improving the service for the future.
The actions Capita are taking to stabilise and recover the service include:
- Recruiting additional staff and developing staff knowledge through further training and development supported by external experts;
- Standardising the processes used and work tracking tools;
- More proactive communication to applicants regarding the progress of their application; and
- Developing the internal integrated work management system to enable Performers List work to be tracked and work-flowed through the process.
NHS England is meeting with Capita on a weekly basis to oversee the delivery of these plans and to ensure the right improvements are in place.
My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Nicola Blackwood), will continue to work with Capita and NHS England to ensure that services are restored to an acceptable and sustainable standard.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average cost to the public purse of providing a foundation training place for a dental graduate.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Information on the average cost to Health Education England (HEE) of providing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) education and Dental Foundation Training (DFT) can be found in the tables A, B and C below.
Table A
Cost to HEE of BDS education
BDS | Average tariff | Fee Contribution | Maintenance | Total |
Year 1 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 2 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 3 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 4 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 5 | £32,600 | £9,000 | £3,000 | £44,600 |
Total | £163,000 | £9,000 | £3,000 | £175,000 |
Notes:
Table B
Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in secondary care
Placement support | £50,900 |
Salary/Maintenance | £34,100 |
Total | £85,000 |
Notes:
1. Training Placement Support cost is the cost of the dental practice providing training & facilities.
2. Trainee Salary/Maintenance cost is the contribution to the trainee salary and associated costs.
Table C
Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in primary care
Dental foundation training salary | £31,044 |
Dental foundation trainer grant | £9,324 |
Service costs | £64,164 |
Total | £104,532 |
Notes:
1. Training salary is the reimbursement of the salary paid to the dental trainee.
2. Trainer grant is the sum that represents the time spent in supervising a trainee.
3. Service costs is a sum that represents the service costs of employing a trainee.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average cost per student to the public purse of providing bachelor-level education in dental surgery.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Information on the average cost to Health Education England (HEE) of providing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) education and Dental Foundation Training (DFT) can be found in the tables A, B and C below.
Table A
Cost to HEE of BDS education
BDS | Average tariff | Fee Contribution | Maintenance | Total |
Year 1 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 2 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 3 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 4 | £32,600 | - | - | £32,600 |
Year 5 | £32,600 | £9,000 | £3,000 | £44,600 |
Total | £163,000 | £9,000 | £3,000 | £175,000 |
Notes:
Table B
Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in secondary care
Placement support | £50,900 |
Salary/Maintenance | £34,100 |
Total | £85,000 |
Notes:
1. Training Placement Support cost is the cost of the dental practice providing training & facilities.
2. Trainee Salary/Maintenance cost is the contribution to the trainee salary and associated costs.
Table C
Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in primary care
Dental foundation training salary | £31,044 |
Dental foundation trainer grant | £9,324 |
Service costs | £64,164 |
Total | £104,532 |
Notes:
1. Training salary is the reimbursement of the salary paid to the dental trainee.
2. Trainer grant is the sum that represents the time spent in supervising a trainee.
3. Service costs is a sum that represents the service costs of employing a trainee.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the reported rise in expenditure by NHS Ambulance Trusts, they intend to extend agency spending caps to private ambulance services.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government has already taken decisive action to support the National Health Service to be the most efficient health system in the world. That is why a series of tough financial controls were introduced last year to help the NHS tackle some of the extortionate rates charged and overspending on agency staff.
In November 2015, hourly price caps were introduced limiting the amount the NHS can pay to an agency for temporary staff. These were reduced gradually over a number of months and will apply to all ambulance trusts and ambulance foundation trusts from 1 July 2016.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Health will conduct an assessment of the potential effects of the recent increase in patient charges for NHS dental services in England on people's ability and inclination regularly to visit a dentist.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Department published an Impact Assessment which considered the impact of uplifting patient dental charges by 5% in 2016/17 and 2017/18, a copy of which is attached. We considered that the impact of increasing patient dental charges will mainly affect those of working age, for whom a proportionate increase to their charges is considered reasonable. Those on low incomes and other protected groups will remain exempt. Those not entitled to exemption but on low incomes may also be eligible to receive help with health costs. We do not consider that the uplifts to patient charges for National Health Service dental services in England will have any significant impact on people’s ability and inclination to regularly visit a dentist.
Asked by: Lord Colwyn (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much revenue was raised from patient charges for NHS dental services in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is able to provide data for patient charge revenue from 2006/07 to 2014/15. Data is not held by the HSCIC prior to this date. Data for 2015/16 will be published in August 2016.
Year | Patient Charge Revenue |
| £ |
2006/07 | 475,413,015 |
2007/08 | 531,433,254 |
2008/09 | 571,728,263 |
2009/10 | 597,620,482 |
2010/11 | 614,270,550 |
2011/12 | 634,741,351 |
2012/13 | 657,636,481 |
2013/14 | 685,093,493 |
2014/15 | 714,185,948 |