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Written Question
Dental Services
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the number of dentists taking on NHS patients in (a) Burnley constituency and (b) England.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)

NHS England asked dental practices to return to full delivery of contracted activity from July 2022, including in Burnley. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Burnley.

The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.

Written Question
Health: Screening
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing the number of (a) scans, (b) diagnostic tests and (c) other health checks provided by the NHS.

Answered by Will Quince


Hardworking NHS Staff delivered 102% of pre-pandemic diagnostic activity in September 2022, and we are well on our way to delivering 120% of pre-pandemic activity.

The Government has committed to invest £2.3 billion in capital to help increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times.

Most of this will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres to up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 08 Feb 2022
Children’s Mental Health

"I welcome the general theme of the debate and recognise the importance of Children’s Mental Health Week. We have come an enormous way as a society on mental health. Although we have not erased the stigma of talking about mental health, we have come a long way. It was 10 …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Children’s Mental Health
Written Question
Cancer: Health Services
Friday 28th January 2022

Asked by: Antony Higginbotham (Conservative - Burnley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) support and (b) resources the Government plans to make available to tackle the backlog in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

We are committed to recovering cancer services by the end of March 2022, returning to February 2020 levels for waiting times between a general practitioner appointment and referral and the number of people waiting for over 62 days for treatment.

Diagnostic capacity is being increased, particularly in endoscopy, computerised tomography and targeted lung health checks. Rapid diagnostic centres are bringing together diagnostic equipment and expertise and increasing capacity. The National Health Service is maximising innovative treatments adopted during the pandemic, including new radiotherapy methods to deliver targeted treatment in fewer hospital visits.

At the Spending Review 2021, we announced an extra £5.9 billion to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology over the next three years. This includes £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and launching community diagnostic centres to address backlogs of clinical tests.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 14 Sep 2021
Covid-19 Update

"The NHS and volunteers across Burnley and Padiham have done a brilliant job of vaccinating people, but we know there is still hesitancy about getting the vaccine. That includes not only people who have not turned up or do not want to have the first vaccine, but those who have …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19 Update
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 21 Jul 2021
NHS Update

"Access to a GP is now very patchy. Some of my constituents have no difficulty in getting a face-to-face appointment; others find it almost impossible. We all accept that there are new ways of working and some GP appointments can be virtual, but that is not appropriate in all cases. …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: NHS Update
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 06 Jul 2021
Covid-19 Update

"I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. An increasing number of constituents contact me about access to GP appointments, with many still struggling to see their GP face to face. We know how that will impact on early diagnosis and the treatment of other illnesses. What steps is the Department …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19 Update
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 25 May 2021
Covid-19

"I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney): what we need now more than ever before is clear communication from the Government, so that residents of Burnley, Blackburn and Bolton know exactly what is expected of them. Will the Minister confirm that this guidance is …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Covid-19
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 13 Apr 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

" What steps he is taking to support integration within the health and social care system. ..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 13 Apr 2021
Oral Answers to Questions

"One thing that will really help the integration of health and social care is the better use of technology and innovation, but one of the barriers we face is the sharing of information among different clinicians, general practitioners, hospitals and social care settings, so will my hon. Friend confirm that …..."
Antony Higginbotham - View Speech

View all Antony Higginbotham (Con - Burnley) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions