Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for St Mary’s on the Isle of Wight and other Unavoidably Small Hospitals; and what steps he plans to take to establish a long-term strategy to adjust funding levels relative to that assessment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). This process is independent of the Government and the underlying allocation formula is informed by an estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. Further cost adjustments are also applied to estimate the unavoidable cost differences between health care providers, based on location. The Isle of Wight has been supported by increased CCG allocations as per these adjustments to reflect its small size and the associated unavoidable costs.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase support for the provision of independent pharmacies and dentists on the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The need for pharmaceutical services is assessed on a three-yearly basis by local authority Health and Wellbeing Boards. The current assessment for the Isle of Wight concluded that the number and distribution of services is adequate to provide pharmaceutical services to the population. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group and the local authority to consider how the provision of dentistry in the Isle of Wight can be supported.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to increase the supply of NHS dental places and appointments in (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) other rural and isolated communities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing proposals for dental system reform, with the Department and key stakeholders. This aims to improve patient access and oral health, offer value for money for the National Health Service and be designed with the profession. Any reforms will seek to improve provision in such areas by making the NHS dental offer more attractive for dentists.
Health Education England’s Advancing Dental Care Education and Training Review programme is addressing oral health needs through changes to the workforce. This includes opportunities for flexible core and specialty training pathways to improve career progression and retention, including in rural and isolated communities. The programme will also look at the placement of postgraduate dental training places into areas of greatest need, such as rural communities. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group and the local authority to consider how to improve dentistry provision in the Isle of Wight.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps his Department is taking to help improve the service provided by GP practices on the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for commissioning healthcare services from general practitioners and other providers and supporting them to continually improve services.
To support local commissioners to provide high quality primary care services, we committed a record level of additional investment in primary and community care of an extra £4.5 billion per year by 2023/24.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding by Ernst and Young in its September 2020 report, Impacts of current funding, policy and economic environment on independent pharmacy in England, that three-quarters of independent pharmacies are at risk of closure by 2024.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data referenced in the Ernst and Young report is not publicly available and we are unable to verify its forecast. On 31 March 2020, latest published data available from the NHS Business Services Authority, there were 11,421 community pharmacies in England. This is 280 fewer pharmacies than on 31 March 2016 but 470 more than on 31 March 2011. Maintaining access to pharmaceutical services is a key priority for the Government and the Department continues to closely monitor the market.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people on the Isle of Wight are in each of the top four priority groups for covid-19 vaccination.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England does not hold the information in the format requested.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to provide greater access to NHS dental care on the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Dental practices were required to close for face to face care on 26 March 2020 due to COVID-19. Urgent care continued to be provided by practices, restricted to remote triage, advice, analgesia and antibiotics where appropriate. In April, urgent dental care (UDC) hubs were established in Cowes for patients who were at greater risk or shielding as well as Ryde for all other patients. In July a further UDC hub was established in Bembridge.
Since 8 June, practices have been able to see patients for face-to-face care. The pace of restoration of dental services is limited by public health measures on social distancing and the infection prevention control guidance. All National Health Service dental practices on the Isle of Wight are open and seeing patients who require urgent dental care which cannot be controlled by pain relief or assisted by antibiotics, those who were in a course of treatment that was not completed prior to the lockdown, and those who may be at greater risk of oral disease. Dental clinicians should identify and recall patients according to their clinical and professional judgement.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people do not need to cross the Solent in order to access covid-19 testing.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For residents of the Isle of Wight we have established a regional testing site at Newclose Cricket Ground. The average distance travelled for tests across the country is 5.2miles and for the week 8 October to 14 October the median distance has decreased to 2.9 miles.