Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of (a) the forecast spend on NHS dentistry by Norfolk and Waveney ICB and (b) its allocated budget for the financial year 2024-5.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service in England invests £3 billion on dentistry every year. The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. The NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB has committed to investing £6.7 million in dental services for 2024/25.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional emergency NHS dental appointments have been provided in the Norfolk and Waveney integrated care board area since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the number of urgent care courses of treatment is published annually. The latest data, for 2023/24 is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been released to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn Trust under the New Hospitals Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Up to the end of 2023/24, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust has received £3.2 million in funding to support the development of the business case for their New Hospital Programme scheme.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's commissioning guidance entitled Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for treatment of medication-refractory essential tremor, updated 5 October 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this guidance on trends in the number of patients accessing this treatment.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the potential impact of NHS England’s guidance on trends in the number of patients accessing transcranial magnetic resonance. Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy is recommended for the treatment of refractory essential tremor in patients who are not eligible for deep brain stimulation, within the criteria set put in NHS England’s commissioning policy, which is available at the following link:
Epidemiology and needs assessment data set out in the commissioning policy estimates that there will be up to 150 patients that meet the inclusion criteria for this therapy per year in England. NHS England will review the policy should any new evidence become available.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 expand Fracture Liaison Services in England.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
More than 500,000 fragility fractures occur every year, and up to 40% of fracture patients will suffer another fracture. I am pleased to reiterate the Government’s commitment to expanding access to Fracture Liaison Services.
The Department is working closely with NHS England to develop plans to ensure better quality and access to these important preventive services. This includes exploring ways to best support systems, as Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which make decisions according to local need.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 merits of introducing a new provisional registration status for overseas-qualified dentists whose qualifications are not automatically recognised by General Dental Council.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, and strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions. Dentists that meet our high standards should be able to enter the workforce efficiently, and we are exploring the best ways to achieve this, including whether there is merit to the introduction of a provisional registration status for overseas-qualified dentists.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce the time taken to process applications to the dental performers list.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In May 2023, changes were made to the Performers List Regulations for England to accelerate the process for domestic and overseas dentists joining the Dental Performers List to be able to practise in the National Health Service. Further changes came into force in September 2023.
The Government is determined to rebuild NHS dentistry, and strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions. Dentists that meet our high standards should be able to enter the workforce efficiently, and we are exploring the best ways to achieve this.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 economic benefit for the (a) NHS and (b) wider economy of investment in training the public sector workforce to increase access to Auditory Verbal therapy for young deaf children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Washington and Gateshead South on 14 October 2024 to Question 5963.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to (a) Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf children whose families want them to learn to listen and speak and (b) other early and effective support to develop language and communication for deaf children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Audiology services, including support for non-hearing children, are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing children lies with local National Health Service commissioners.
NHS England is supporting the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make informed decisions about the provision of audiology services so that they can provide consistent, high quality, and integrated care to non-hearing children. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers which supports non-hearing children and young people, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
The Department recognises the need to improve access to therapies generally. Since September 2020, all eligible allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. NHS England and the Department for Education are also working in partnership to co-fund £10 million for nine Early Language Support for Every Child pathfinder sites over two years, starting from September 2023, to provide early identification, targeted, and universal support for children with speech, language, and communication needs in both early years and primary school settings, and more timely referrals for specialist support if required.
NHS England met with Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) last year and discussed the need for more higher-level research evidence for the intervention and to develop evaluations of impact. AVUK was also invited to join the Chief Scientific Officer’s Audiology stakeholder group.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
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 adequate numbers of (a) auditory verbal therapists and (b) other specialist workers for babies, children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Audiology services, including support for non-hearing children, are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing children lies with local National Health Service commissioners.
NHS England is supporting the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make informed decisions about the provision of audiology services so that they can provide consistent, high quality, and integrated care to non-hearing children. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers which supports non-hearing children and young people, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
The Department recognises the need to improve access to therapies generally. Since September 2020, all eligible allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. NHS England and the Department for Education are also working in partnership to co-fund £10 million for nine Early Language Support for Every Child pathfinder sites over two years, starting from September 2023, to provide early identification, targeted, and universal support for children with speech, language, and communication needs in both early years and primary school settings, and more timely referrals for specialist support if required.
NHS England met with Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) last year and discussed the need for more higher-level research evidence for the intervention and to develop evaluations of impact. AVUK was also invited to join the Chief Scientific Officer’s Audiology stakeholder group.