Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 effectiveness of the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme launched in 2016 in achieving its aims; what further steps he plans to take to ensure that rural areas have an adequate number of General Practitioners in the future; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Morris
Through the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS), there were 550 training places in 2021 for doctors in areas which have experienced challenges in recruiting staff. In 2022, additional investment has ensured that there are 800 training places. General practitioner (GP) trainees provide direct patient care and those on the TERS scheme can provide additional resource in these locations.
We are diversifying the general practice workforce to ensure that GPs are supported to deliver appropriate patient care. We are recruiting an additional 26,000 primary care staff to ensure that a range of skills are available in general practice, with over 18,000 staff currently in post.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 adequacy of orthodontic services in East Yorkshire; and what plans he has to increase the number of orthodontic appointments available to NHS patients.
Answered by James Morris
No specific assessment has been made. National Health Service regional teams are responsible for assessing capacity and commissioning local dental services. The Department works with NHS England to monitor the delivery of commissioned levels of care in England.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with other Cabinet colleagues on the matter of fluoridation of water supplies; if the Government will make it its policy to ensure that any proposals to introduce water fluoridisation schemes (i) be consulted upon before introduction and (ii) have the support of affected local communities; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There have been no recent discussions. However, any proposals to introduce water fluoridation schemes would be subject to funding being agreed and public consultation. A consultation seeking views on the future consultation process has recently closed and the results will be published in due course. The responses will inform secondary legislation to determine the future public consultation process.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a revised funding formula for unavoidably small hospitals in (a) rural and (b) all other areas to enable them to (i) be more fully utilised as hospitals and (ii) offer a wider range of essential health services; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs), independently of the Government. The allocation formula is informed by an estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. Further cost adjustments are also applied to estimate the unavoidable cost differences between health care providers, based on location. The approach has been reviewed and a target adjustment was included in the 2022/23 ICB allocations.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 potential benefits to public health of offering every adult over the age of 60 an immediate covid-19 booster; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The primary aim of the spring COVID-19 vaccination programme is to reduce the risk of severe disease in the population. Those aged 60 to 74 years old have a lower rate of admission to hospital for COVID-19 than those aged 75 years old and over. Based on an assessment of the available evidence, protection against severe COVID-19 disease after the first booster dose declines slowly therefore the most vulnerable groups have been prioritised.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation continues to consider the latest available data and its review of the booster programme, particularly in relation to the timing and benefit of any additional booster doses for public health.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 ability of people across Yorkshire to access NHS dental services; and what steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
National Health Service dental practices, including across Yorkshire, have been asked to meet as many prioritised needs as is safely possible. They are prioritising urgent care, care for vulnerable groups and children, followed by delayed planned care.
An additional £50 million in funding for National Heath Service (NHS) dentistry has been made available for the remainder of the 2021/22 financial year to give more patients that have been unable to obtain an NHS appointment access to dental care. The available appointments will be targeted first at those most in need of urgent dental treatment, vulnerable groups and children.
Patients across Yorkshire who are struggling to find a local dentist can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for assistance or contact NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.
Work to reform the NHS dental contract is underway and is being led by NHS England and NHS Improvement working closely with the Department and the British Dental Association. One of the main aims is to improve patient access to NHS care.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 support the installation of more defibrillators in public places.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Health Service has initiated a national network of community first responders and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). This will be supported by educating the general public, including young people of school age, on recognising and responding to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The Government encourages organisations in England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people. With growing public awareness and acceptance of AEDs, many community defibrillators have since been provided in public locations through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities. From May 2020, the Government has required all contractors refurbishing or building new schools through centrally delivered programmes to provide at least one AED. The NHS cardiovascular disease programme has committed £15 million in 2021/22 for national projects to improve bystander responses to out of hospital cardiac arrests.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to encourage the installation of more defibrillators in public places.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Health Service has initiated a national network of community first responders and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). This will be supported by educating the general public, including young people of school age, on recognising and responding to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The Government encourages organisations in England to consider purchasing a defibrillator as part of their first aid equipment, particularly for places where there are high concentrations of people. With growing public awareness and acceptance of AEDs, many community defibrillators have since been provided in public locations through national lottery funding, community fundraising schemes, workplace funding or by charities. From May 2020, the Government has required all contractors refurbishing or building new schools through centrally delivered programmes to provide at least one AED. The NHS cardiovascular disease programme has committed £15 million in 2021/22 for national projects to improve bystander responses to out of hospital cardiac arrests.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
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 increase the availability of lateral flow tests in East Yorkshire constituency.
Answered by Maggie Throup
In December 2021, we delivered approximately 280 million lateral flow device (LFD) tests and we have since procured new stocks and increased delivery capacity. We expect to deliver 90 million LFD tests a week across the United Kingdom, including East Yorkshire and County Durham, including seven million a day through GOV.UK. In England, this includes approximately 12 million tests a week through pharmacies.
For polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, we increased capacity before Christmas and developed a network which processed over four million tests by 10 January 2022. We expect that there is currently sufficient capacity to process PCR tests.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) develop and (b) improve the services available at the Alfred Bean Hospital in Driffield.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with East Riding Council and Driffield Town Council, local partner agencies and communities to understand, develop and improve local services. This includes reviewing services available at the Alfred Bean Hospital.