Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
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 improve access to NHS dentistry in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of (a) adults and (b) children going 24 months or more without a dental check-up.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the 24 months to June 2023, 18.1 million adults saw a National Health Service dentist in England, the equivalent to 41% of the adult population. In the 12 months to June 2023, 6.4 million children saw an NHS dentist in England, the equivalent to 53% of the child population. Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
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 adequacy of NHS dental provision in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards across England.
NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS website profiles up to date, so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice, they should contact NHS 111.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people waiting for (a) four, (b) eight and (c) 12 or more weeks for a non-urgent appointment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on waiting times from consultant-led referral to treatment is published on a monthly basis, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
The latest published data from May 2024 showed there were:
- 6,284,066 incomplete pathways over four weeks;
- 5,118,954 incomplete pathways over eight weeks; and
- 4,259,438 incomplete pathways over 12 weeks.
Waiting times for consultant-led treatments are measured in pathways, rather than people or patients. Patients may be on more than one incomplete pathway.
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of dentists taking new NHS patients in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 10 July 2024, there were eight open dentistry practices in the High Peak constituency, three of which were showing as accepting new adult patients when availability allows. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website, and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dental practises are rated as good by the CQC in High Peak constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and social care services in England. The commission ensures quality and safety across the range of sectors that deliver health and care to people in England.
The CQC carries out assessments of primary dental services to determine if they are compliant with regulations, however they do not rate dental services in the same way they do for the other services they regulate. 12 out of the 18 active dental locations in the High Peak constituency have been assessed and are compliant with the regulations. The remaining six locations have not yet been assessed.