Parliamentary report 14 July
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- Published: Monday, 17 July 2017 07:40
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Dr Sarah Wollaston MP has been re-elected to chair the House of Commons Health Select Committee, having been first elected in June 2014. Before her election she asked a question about NHS funding. Shadow health minister Jon Ashworth asked two questions on dentistry and in the upper house Lord Wigley raised the issue of the increasing cost of medical indemnity, albeit for doctors.
Dr Sarah Wollaston MP (Conservative) for Totnes speaking after the announcement of her election said: “I'm delighted to be returned as the Chair and look forward to working with MPs from across the Commons on behalf of those who use health services now and in the future.”
Her most recent question (before her election) was to ask what assessment the Department of Health had made of the effect of the capped expenditure process on patient care. Answering Minister Philip Dunne replied that providers had managed to reduce the deficit from £2.4 billion (in 2015-16) to £791 million this year. He continued: “This success isn’t universal. Some areas consistently exceed budgets, requiring increased savings by others. 14 areas have joined a ‘Capped Expenditure Process’ with commissioners and providers working together to achieve budgets assured by their Boards. Their proposals involve patients and staff; placing patient safety and constitutional rights at the heart of decision making.”
Other members of the committee will be nominated by the political parties and they are likely to start meeting after the summer recess when they will decide on a programme of inquiries. Full details of all committee chairs elections can be found at:
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2017/july/winning-candidates-for-select-committee-chairs/
Jon Ashworth Shadow Secretary of State for Health asked two questions from Health Ministers, the first being on “the total cost of treating tooth decay in the NHS has been in each of the last five years”. Junior minister Steve Brine replied that the total cost of treating tooth decay in the National Health Service was not available. “It is not possible to break down NHS dental spending to identify the total cost to the NHS of treating tooth decay as opposed to other dental diseases requiring treatment, such as gum disease.”
Secondly Mr Ashworth asked what information the Department held on the proportion of children under the age of two who have visited an NHS dentist in the last 12 months. Steve Brine published a table giving this information.
Patient Age (at 30 June 2017) | Number of Current Child Patients | Population | Access Rate % |
0 | 17,628 | 669,103 | 2.6 |
1 | 132,544 | 669,817 | 19.8 |
Under 2 | 150,172 | 1,338,920 | 11.2 |
Lord Wigley, Plaid Cymru, asked what discussions the Department of Health had held with representatives of NHS doctors regarding the potential impact of the increasing cost of medical indemnity. Replying for the Government, Lord O’Shaughnessy said the Department was aware of pressures for doctors regarding the potential impact of the increasing cost of medical indemnity.
General practitioners (GPs) are the doctors who are most directly affected by the rising cost of medical indemnity, he said. Doctors working in hospitals are not directly exposed to rising costs as their employers purchase indemnity to cover their activities. The Department has been in frequent dialogue with GP representative bodies on the subject of rising cost of indemnity, and this has been a subject of interest for some time. The Department has a series of regular scheduled meetings with GP representatives, and indemnity is frequently discussed at these meetings. In addition, it is not uncommon for discussions to take place outside of these scheduled meetings where either party has a reason to have a more specific conversation about indemnity costs.
Indemnity for clinical negligence claims brought against NHS employed GPs, doctors and all NHS staff in England is provided by the employer organisation. All NHS providers of care are members of NHS Resolution’s Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts and claims for compensation will ordinarily be brought against the NHS care provider organisation. The Government has publically committed to ensuring that NHS Resolution has appropriate funding to cover changes to hospitals’ clinical negligence costs.
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