Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer to Question 195463 on Dental Services: Cornwall, how much of the £4,562,496 recovered from dentists in Cornwall in 2021-22 is (a) available and (b) allocated for financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Financial accounting rules do not allow for funding recovered from one financial year (in this case, 2021/22) to be spent in another financial year (in this case, 2023/24). Where a dental contract underperforms in any one year any financial recovery associated with the contractual performance should accrue to the year in which the underperformance takes place.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's expected timescale is for updating its statutory guidance on autism; and how he will ensure that people with autism are consulted.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department is committed to ensuring autistic people are involved in the formation of policy and decision-making processes. This year, we are working on updating the Statutory Guidance on Autism to support the National Health Service and local authorities to deliver improved outcomes for autistic people.
There will be a public consultation on the draft guidance in due course, which will give autistic people, their families, and carers the opportunity to give their views. We expect to publish the updated Statutory Guidance in 2024.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 potential merits of (a) paid sabbaticals, (b) guaranteed study leave and (c) reform of NHS deaneries on the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of NHS doctors.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has not made any assessment of the potential merits of paid sabbaticals, guaranteed study leave or reform of NHS deaneries on the recruitment and retention of NHS doctors.
Individual NHS employers are responsible for developing their own policy relating to sabbaticals. Policies are designed to meet the employers’ specific recruitment and retention needs.
Arrangements relating to study leave are detailed in the national terms and conditions of employment for NHS doctors. Requests for study leave will normally be granted, subject to the need to maintain NHS services.
NHS deaneries deliver national recruitment to training posts across the four nations but do not run recruitment for employment and do not have responsibility for retention.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of geographic variations in the rates of Units of Dental Activity for NHS dental contracts.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Variations in rates of Units of Dental Activity (UDA) reflect local markets and the varying costs of delivering National Health Service dental treatment across the country. We have worked with the British Dental Association to establish and implement a minimum UDA value of £23. This will help support practices with historically low UDA rates.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental professionals were (a) registered as practicing (i) full- and (ii) part-time and (b) performed more than one course of NHS treatment a month in Cornwall in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Published data is not held on how many dentists are registered as full- and part- time by location. 261 dentists delivered more than one course of National Health Service treatment in Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to increase diagnoses of dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In December 2022, the recovery of the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% was included in the National Health Service priorities and operational planning guidance, as part of the refined mental health objectives for 2023/24. This reinforces the importance of dementia as a key priority for NHS England and provides a clear direction for integrated care boards to support delivery of timely diagnoses within systems.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental contract pilots have been conducted since 2010; and what the findings were of those pilots.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
From 2011, the Department ran one pilot, followed by one prototype contract in a limited number of dental practices, to test a new form of contract remuneration for National Health Service work, based on a capitation approach.
Assessment of the pilots suggested that if they were implemented as designed, the proposed contract model would not maintain dental access for patients, reduce oral health inequalities, or offer overall sustainability within available resources for the NHS. Nevertheless, these pilots and prototypes provided good insight and learning, and will inform future contract reform.
The programme closed at the end of March 2022, and the Department published a full report on the prototype programme on 23 January 2023, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 18 July 2023 to Question 193957 on Brain Cancer: Genetics and the report by OurBrainBank entitled Glioblastoma, The neglected disease in the cancer treatment revolution, published July 2023, what assessment he has made for the potential implications for his polices that OurBrainBank research estimated that whole genome sequencing analysis was carried out on approximately 1.6% of brain tumour patients and 1.3% of glioblastoma patients diagnosed since April 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
Genomic testing for glioblastoma is included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, one of which is whole genome sequencing (WGS). All patients will be offered Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology (large cancer gene panels) to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances. Anyone who meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory will be able to access this genomic testing offer. Between January 2022 and June 2023, 505 patients have been referred for WGS because of a suspected glioblastoma or brain tumour diagnosis. In addition to WGS, during 2022/2023, 14,800 genomics tests were performed for neurological tumours, including 3,145 NGS cancer gene panels.
NHS England has not undertaken any formal assessment of the report by OurBrainBank entitled Glioblastoma and is not aware of any research that demonstrates any clinical benefit of WGS over other genomic technologies (i.e., large cancer gene panels) for glioblastoma; however, work is ongoing to evaluate the potential benefits. This will inform future commission decisions made by NHS England.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of setting a minimum Unit of Dental Activity rate of £30 on the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of NHS dental professionals in (i) the South West, (ii) St Ives, (iii) West Cornwall and (iv) the Isles of Scilly.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We have no plans to make such an assessment.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs have flexibility to work with contractors within the bounds of the current contractual framework as set out in the current General Dental Service contract and Personal Dental Service agreement regulations. At its discretion, an ICB may choose to negotiate with a contractor to decrease or increase the indicative Unit of Dental Activity rate of their contract, the Negotiated Annual Contract Value. Any variation should be for reasonable and appropriate circumstances only and demonstrate value for money and improve access for patients.
In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements to increase access for dental patients in the National Health Service and make NHS dentistry more attractive to practices. We will announce our plan for further reform of the NHS dental system shortly.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of NHS dental contracts were handed back to NHS England in Cornwall in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
During 2021/22 there were 81 dental practices providing National Health Service dental care in Cornwall. One NHS dental practice closed in Wadebridge during 2021/22, which equated to 1.23% of all practices, and 2.87% of the total dental activity in Cornwall.