Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the hon. Member for Witney to discuss the availability of (a) NHS dentistry and (b) diagnostic testing in Witney constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Recovering diagnostic services, including in Witney, is a priority for the Government, as part of our ambition to return NHS waiting lists to meeting constitutional standards. It is unacceptable that some patients are waiting more than six weeks for a diagnostic test.
Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, builds on the investments already made with an ambitious vision for the future of diagnostic testing. This will include more straight-to-test pathways, increasing and expanding Community Diagnostic Centres, and better use of technology.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry and diagnostic activity, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Witney constituency, this is the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB.
I will write to the hon. Member to provide further detail.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
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 NHS dental services in (a) Witney constituency and (b) West Oxfordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available from the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
The data for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, which includes the Witney constituency and West Oxfordshire, shows that 36% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2024, compared to 40% in England; and 57% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of adding a QR code to the NHS App on the (a) speed and (b) safety of the processing of patients (i) in vaccination clinics and (ii) generally.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no firm plans to incorporate Quick Response (QR) codes into the vaccination user experience, for example, in invitations, booking confirmations, at the point of care more generally, or in the NHS App specifically.
Work for the QR code feature is still in the research and development phase, however, it is not planned for use in the NHS App roadmap between now and the end of quarter four in March 2025.