Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of ending self-isolation rules for people with covid-19 on immune-suppressed transplant recipients' (a) mortality and (b) quality of life.
Answered by Maggie Throup
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
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 increase the availability of the vaccine Novovax across the UK.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There are several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines already in deployment the United Kingdom. The Government will continue to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which vaccines should be deployed in the UK’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI has discussed the potential use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) in the national vaccination programme. Its considerations will be published in due course and kept under review.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide additional financial support to tackle pressures in dentistry in areas with high levels of population growth.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Local services are commissioned according to need, taking into account regional data on the oral health needs of the population, demographics and current service provision. This includes areas high levels of population growth. Patients are also registered with a dental practice during the course of their treatment, therefore there are no geographical restrictions on which practice a patient may attend.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional financial support he is making available to tackle pressures in dentistry in areas with high levels of population growth.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England and NHS Improvement commission primary dental care services, within the overall National Health Service budget. Approximately £3 billion is invested in NHS dentistry each year. Local services are commissioned according to need, taking into account data held at regional level on the oral health needs of the population, demographics and current service provision.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of people diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture in (a) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
This information is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) in English National Health Service hospitals and NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector where the primary diagnosis is related to Dupuytren's contracture for patients resident in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and England in each of the last three years.
Year | Barnsley | South Yorkshire | England |
2018/19 | 60 | 480 | 18,269 |
2019/20 | 80 | 520 | 16,679 |
2020/21 | 25 | 230 | 6,463 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital.
Notes:
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of existing dentistry procurement rules on dental practices’ ability to change commissioning arrangements.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Within the existing dental contract, National Health Service dental contractors are able to deliver up to 4% below and 2% above their contracted number of units of dental activity and carry this activity over to the following year. An additional 2% or up to 104% can be carried out with the agreement of regional commissioners.
Flexible commissioning allows regional commissioners to work with dental practices to utilise a portion of an existing contract to deliver additional services and activity. This is often used to deliver specific initiatives, including oral public health improvement.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
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 patients access to dental services in (a) the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council area, (b) the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority area and (c) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
National Health Service dental provision in England, Barnsley and South Yorkshire has been impacted by the pandemic, which has reduced the number of available appointments due to necessary infection prevention and control procedures.
An additional £50 million for NHS dentistry was made available for the remainder of 2021/22 to provide access to NHS dental care appointments. NHS dentists have been asked to prioritise available capacity for urgent care, care for vulnerable groups and children, followed by delayed planned care. Patients can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre or NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legacy arrangements for dental services arising from contracts passing from primary care trusts to NHS England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
National Health Service dental contracts transferred from primary care trusts to NHS England in 2013 continue to operate under the current General Dental Services and Personal Dental Services contracts. Contractual variations and regulatory amendments have been updated within the contracts to ensure that they provide the same level of service and safety to patients as any newly commissioned contract.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to review the Primary Care National Contract for Dentistry to increase its flexibility for (a) the commissioner (b) the provider.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We are currently negotiating with the British Dental Association on a number of initial proposed changes to the National Health Service contract for dental services, aimed at supporting the commissioning and delivery of NHS dentistry in the short term. We expect to be able to announce the outcome of these negotiations shortly and will set out an implementation timetable when negotiations conclude. The development of further proposed changes in the long term will be progressed over the summer and autumn of 2022.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
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 impact of rising energy costs on (a) kidney patients receiving dialysis treatment and (b) other individuals using large volumes of electricity to treat medical conditions at home.
Answered by Edward Argar
We have had no specific discussions and no assessment has been made. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is responsible for monitoring the energy market to ensure it meets the need of all consumers, including those receiving medical treatment at home.