Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to GP services in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We recognise that despite the hard work of general practice teams, some patients are still struggling to access care in a timely way. That is why we have published our Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care. The plan has two central ambitions to improve access, both nationwide and in Portsmouth South: to tackle the 8am rush and reduce the number of people struggling to contact their practice; and for patients to know on the day they contact their practice how their request will be managed.
We will achieve this by modernising telephone systems which can help practices to better match their capacity to patient demand, backed by £240 million in retargeted funding. All practices have now signed up to transition to new digital systems. The plan will empower patients to do more themselves, cutting bureaucracy for general practitioners and building capacity to deliver more appointments. We are investing at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million general practice appointments by 2024 by increasing and diversifying the workforce.
In July 2022 we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care. The changes that have been implemented include improvements to ensure dentists are remunerated more fairly for more complex work. We expect to publish our Dental Recovery Plan shortly for further reform to make improvements.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In July 2022, we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care. The changes that have been implemented include improvements to ensure dentists are remunerated more fairly for more complex work.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment. Coventry and Warwickshire ICB has proposals that include remobilisation of some dental activity and procurement of new services. The West Midlands ICB has increased investment through various initiatives to support recovery of NHS dental services.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32.
But we know we need to do more, and that there are some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 reduce NHS dental waiting lists.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Patients do not routinely join National Health Service dental waiting lists and are only registered with a dental practice for a course of treatment.
In July 2022, we announced a package of reforms to improve access to NHS dentistry. This included changes to banding of courses of treatments and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
We will shortly announce our Dental Recovery Plan, which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients, and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to strengthen the data that is available for the purposes of understanding demand for and supply of NHS dental services in England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
From 1 April 2023 responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment. NHS England is providing active support to all ICBs during the transition period.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Primary Care and Public Health on 11 July 2023, Official Report, column 172, when he plans to publish the dental plan; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the dental health needs of local populations are met by integrated care boards.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We expect to publish our Dental Recovery Plan shortly.
From 1 April, 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 are responsible for undertaking oral health needs assessments, identifying areas of need and determining the priorities for investment. Prior to delegation decisions being taken, NHS England undertook a comprehensive assessment process, ensuring ICBs were ready to take on commissioning responsibility for delegated functions.
NHS England has published an Assurance Framework which sets out its approach to providing assurance that commissioning functions are carried out safely and effectively by ICBs, and is providing active support to all ICBs during the transition period.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the Hull York Medical School is used as a model for a Centre for Dental Development.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As proposed Centres for Dental Development are developed by integrated care boards (ICBs) in England, we will work closely and collaboratively with areas to support their creation. NHS England is working with ICBs to develop a resource for publication, to support ICBs with considering how to establish a Centre in their area.
Centres for Dental Development have the potential to support recruitment and retention in an area, however, they will not replicate the role of dental schools in training and supplying the dentistry workforce of the future. Individual centres will be driven locally, in alignment with the ICB strategy to address health inequalities and drive improvements in the quality of oral health care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 Integrated Care Boards to develop Centres for Dental Development.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As proposed Centres for Dental Development are developed by integrated care boards (ICBs) in England, we will work closely and collaboratively with areas to support their creation. NHS England is working with ICBs to develop a resource for publication, to support ICBs with considering how to establish a Centre in their area.
Centres for Dental Development have the potential to support recruitment and retention in an area, however, they will not replicate the role of dental schools in training and supplying the dentistry workforce of the future. Individual centres will be driven locally, in alignment with the ICB strategy to address health inequalities and drive improvements in the quality of oral health care.
Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
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 increase access to NHS dentistry in Selby and Ainsty constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In July 2022 we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry. This included changes to the banding of courses of treatments and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32.
However, we know that we need to do more, and that there are some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dental Plan, which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients, and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board has undertaken sufficient analysis of the access problems facing NHS dental patients in that area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) is proactively issuing regular communications updates to patients and local stakeholders regarding the pressures facing National Health Service dentistry locally, whilst seeking to build resilience through local initiatives that seek to improve access to unscheduled urgent dental care for those in greatest clinical need.
Since taking on NHS Primary Care regulatory dental commissioning responsibility from NHS England on 1 April 2023, the Northeast and North Cumbria ICB have agreed to the establishment of a Local Dental Crisis Task and Finish Group to explore further ways in which the ICB could seek to address NHS dental access and workforce pressures in addition to the
NHS Long term workforce strategy, and also committed to an independent oral health review of the North East & North Cumbria area with a view to the findings becoming available by October 2023.
The steps outlined above will help to inform the ICB's future commissioning of NHS dental services. There are no plans to require ICBs to submit proposals on their commissioning of NHS dental services.
In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care across all regions in England. We know more needs to be done and we continue to work with the sector and NHS England to consider further changes which will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to submit proposals to ensure that NHS patients have access to NHS dental services near to where they live.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) is proactively issuing regular communications updates to patients and local stakeholders regarding the pressures facing National Health Service dentistry locally, whilst seeking to build resilience through local initiatives that seek to improve access to unscheduled urgent dental care for those in greatest clinical need.
Since taking on NHS Primary Care regulatory dental commissioning responsibility from NHS England on 1 April 2023, the Northeast and North Cumbria ICB have agreed to the establishment of a Local Dental Crisis Task and Finish Group to explore further ways in which the ICB could seek to address NHS dental access and workforce pressures in addition to the
NHS Long term workforce strategy, and also committed to an independent oral health review of the North East & North Cumbria area with a view to the findings becoming available by October 2023.
The steps outlined above will help to inform the ICB's future commissioning of NHS dental services. There are no plans to require ICBs to submit proposals on their commissioning of NHS dental services.
In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care across all regions in England. We know more needs to be done and we continue to work with the sector and NHS England to consider further changes which will be announced shortly.