Parliamentary questions w/e 17 March 2017
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- Published: Monday, 20 March 2017 07:37
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Three MPs asked questions last week Imran Hussain (Lab) Bradford East asked about dental funding and the prototypes. Steve McCabe (Lab) Birmingham Selly Oak continued his probe of ministers on numbers attending for treatment. Finally, Roger Godsiff (Lab) asked about the performance of Capita.
Imran Hussain MP for Bradford East asked why the Department does not routinely publish details of NHS funding for dental services. Minister David Mowat replied that NHS England is responsible for commissioning dental services to meet local need. The Department does not routinely publish details of NHS funding for dental services as NHS England does not have a specified dental budget. There is no allocation specifically for dentistry, NHS England receives an overall primary care services budget which includes funding for all dental services.
Next Imran Hussain asked a series of questions about the prototype contracts. Replying to all the questions Minister David Mowat said: “There are currently 79 high street dental practices in the prototype scheme testing a clinical pathway approach focussed on prevention as part of a possible new model of primary dental care. The scheme launched in 2016 and a list of the current dental prototypes can be found here:
“The scheme is being evaluated under the oversight of an evidence and learning group, including external members and led by Professor Eric Rooney one of the two deputy Chief Dental Officers for England.
“The aim of reform is to improve oral health while maintaining access and delivering value for money. The evidence and learning group have identified the following five more detailed criteria against which to assess the success of the dental contract reform prototype scheme: access and accessibility, quality and appropriateness of care, improving oral health, value for money, scalability and potential roll-out. Dentists’ remuneration is a key part of assessing scalability and potential for wider roll out and also has its own programme reference group which includes representatives from the profession. The main evaluation report is due by the end of this year with an initial report expected to be published later this spring.”
Steve McCabe MP Birmingham Selly Oak asked how many children and children had been seen by an ‘NHS dentist’ during a 12-month period. Minister David Mowat replied “The number of adult patients seen by an NHS dentist in each 24-month period ending from 31 March 2006 can be found in the attached table:
The number of children seen by a NHS dentist in each 12 month period ending from 31 December 2015 can be found in the attached table.
Roger Godsiff MP for Birmingham Hall Green asked what service standard the Department had set Capita for the average turnaround time for applications to the National Dental Performers List; and what penalties are in place in the event that those standards are not achieved. Additionally, what the average turnaround time is for applications to the National Dental Performers List since that service has been taken over by Capita.
Minister David Mowat said that NHS England holds the contract with Capita for the administration of Primary Care Support Services, including the National Dental Performers List. NHS England has informed us that that it does not hold information on the average turnaround time for applications to join the National Dental Performers List. There is an expectation that applications should take 12 weeks to process but for some applications it can take longer. The Performers List process checks that applicants have the correct evidence to ensure that safeguards are in place for the protection of the public.
The Minister continued: “Service standards set in the Capita contract are a matter for NHS England as the contract holder. NHS England advises the contract contains a range of remedies to incentivise and address performance. These include the application of financial service credits where agreed levels of performance are not achieved and rectification processes to affect improvement in service performance where this falls below expected levels.”
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