Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate has he made of the number of people in care homes with oral health problems.
Answered by Steve Brine
In 2016, Public Health England reported on oral health in older people, including some based in care homes, in England and Wales using data from existing surveys. The report found that: older adults living in care homes were more likely to have no natural teeth and less likely to have a functional dentition; older adults living in care homes were more likely to have higher levels of tooth decay; older adults in general were less likely to rate their oral health as good and appear to have poorer oral health related quality of life than the general adult population and care home managers experienced greater difficulty in accessing dental care for residents than household resident older adults did.
The survey can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oral-health-of-older-people-in-england-and-wales
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to provide training on oral health to care home staff.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
It is the responsibility of social care provider organisations by law, to ensure their employees are suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced. They are also responsible for ensuring their employees receive appropriate support, training and professional development, to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform. These include oral health, for adults in care homes.
Guidelines, quality standards, and assessment tools have been developed and published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, working in collaboration with Skills for Care. These provide guidance for residential and nursing care home staff who provide daily personal care to residents.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will work with the CQC to ensure that inspections of care homes and hospitals include an assessment of the standards of oral health.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
As the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for deciding its own regulatory inspection and assessment framework.
The CQC has advised the following:
Oral health is an integral part of general health and the CQC recognises that for those residents in care homes, or patients in hospital, oral health is important in terms of dignity, self-esteem and comfort.
The assessment of oral health needs in care homes is covered by several care Key Lines of Enquiry in the CQC’s inspection and assessment framework.
The maintenance of oral health for patients in hospital is similarly important, and should be part of good nursing care where patients are unable to look after their oral health themselves.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent in North Herefordshire constituency since 2015.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department does not budget or monitor spending by Parliamentary constituency. The majority of Department spending is allocated through clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) who are responsible for the efficient and effective allocation of resources in their local health economies. The relevant CCG for North Herefordshire is Herefordshire CCG, whose published accounts show that comprehensive expenditure was £219.347 million, in 2014/15 and £228.51 million in 2015/16.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase the number of GPs employed full-time.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The National Health Service does not employ general practitioners (GPs) directly. GPs either work as, or are employed by independent contractors who hold contracts with NHS England to provide primary healthcare services for the National Health Service and it is for them to determine the hours worked by GPs.
There are already 1,677 more full-time equivalent GPs working and training in the NHS than in September 2010. Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England and for ensuring a secure future supply. HEE has plans in place to increase the number of GP training places to 3,250 each year from 2016. We have also committed to make available 5,000 more GPs by 2020.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many locum GPs are available; and what the average daily rate is for a locum GP.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The requested information is not collected centrally.
General practitioners (GPs) are independent contractors who provide primary medical services on behalf of the National Health Service. As independent businesses, it is the responsibility of individual GP practices to employ locum GPs to meet their needs.
In employing locums, GP practices must meet the requirements set out in the GP contract regulations to ensure that they are appropriately qualified and registered.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to maintain the level of out-of-hours GP cover in Herefordshire.
Answered by Alistair Burt
This is a matter for the National Health Service locally.
We are advised by NHS England that Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group currently commissions out of hours general practitioner services from Primecare and confirms there are no current plans to change the level of provision of these services.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure Kington in Herefordshire has sufficient full-time GPs.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is responsible for commissioning general practitioner (GP) services, and is aware of recruiting difficulties in Herefordshire. NHS England is working with the local GP Federation to promote Herefordshire to GP trainees.
Nationally, there has been an increase of 1,677 full-time equivalent GPs (including Registrars and Retainers) since September 2010. At 30 September 2014 the total number of GPs was 36,920, which represents a real increase in capacity.
In addition this Government is committed to making 5,000 more GPs available by 2020. We will increase the number of GP trainees from 40% to 50% of all trainee doctors and expect Health Education England to ensure this happens. This will mean 3,250 training places for GPs each year from 2016.
NHS England, working with Health Education England, the Royal College of GPs, and the British Medical Association, published ‘Building the workforce’ in January 2015, which sets out plans to increase the size of the GP workforce backed with £10 million funding.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what rules determine who must sign the statement of manufacture that accompanies a custom-made dental device in the UK at initial and final inspection.
Answered by George Freeman
Annex VIII of the EC Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EC, which is transposed into United Kingdom law by the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (as amended), specifies that the statement of manufacture for custom-made devices must be drawn up by the manufacturer or his authorised representative. Amongst the information to be provided on the statement is the name of the medical practitioner or other authorised person who made out the prescription against which the custom-made device was manufactured. Article I of the aforementioned Directive defines a custom-made device as meaning any device specifically made in accordance with a duly qualified medical practitioner’s written prescription which gives under his responsibility, specific design characteristics and is intended for the sole use of a particular patient. The prescription may also be made out by any other person authorized by virtue of his professional qualifications to do so which in the case of custom-made dental devices would be a dental practitioner.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the statement of manufacture that accompanies a custom-made dental device in the UK must be signed at initial and final inspection by a person who has received recognised training to make a device of that type.
Answered by George Freeman
Annex VIII of the EC Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EC, which is transposed into United Kingdom law by the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (as amended), specifies that the statement of manufacture for custom-made devices must be drawn up by the manufacturer or his authorised representative. Amongst the information to be provided on the statement is the name of the medical practitioner or other authorised person who made out the prescription against which the custom-made device was manufactured. Article I of the aforementioned Directive defines a custom-made device as meaning any device specifically made in accordance with a duly qualified medical practitioner’s written prescription which gives under his responsibility, specific design characteristics and is intended for the sole use of a particular patient. The prescription may also be made out by any other person authorized by virtue of his professional qualifications to do so which in the case of custom-made dental devices would be a dental practitioner.