Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) dentists left NHS dental practices in the South West and (b) how many of those vacancies were filled through recruitment of new staff in each year since 2010.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on vacancies filled through recruitment is not held centrally, as practices manage staffing requirements to meet National Health Service dental contracts. This may include moving dentists between NHS and other work throughout and between years.
Data on dentists who commenced and ceased delivering NHS provision in the South West from 2010/11 to 2011/12 and 2012/13 to 2021/22 is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of GP practices currently open in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency; and what that number was in 2013.
Answered by Will Quince
There were 22 practices registered in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport in September 2013, with 11 practices registered in October 2022.
Practices close for a variety of reasons, including practice mergers or retirement. A reduction in practice numbers does not mean a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed and advised to register at another local practice of their choice. Practices and commissioners must put in place appropriate measures to ensure that the affected patients have access to general practitioner services.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of FTE Fully qualified GPs excluding GPs in Training Grade practicing in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency (a) on 13 October 2022 and (b) in 2013.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of FTE Fully qualified GPs excluding GPs in Training Grade practicing in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency (a) as of 13 October 2022 and (b) in 2013.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were diagnosed with diabetes in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency in each year from 2016 to 2020, by diabetes type.
| Type 1 | Type 2 and other |
2016 | 25 | 430 |
2017 | 25 | 400 |
2018 | 20 | 350 |
2019 | 25 | 535 |
2020 | 20 | 360 |
Source: National Diabetes Audit (NDA)
Note:
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has provided additional (a) financial and (b) other support to help tackle (i) patient backlogs and (ii) increased workloads in GP surgeries in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, published in February 2022, stated the ambition to reduce patient backlogs for planned National Health Service treatments and the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25. We made £520 million available to expand general practice capacity during the pandemic. This was in addition to at least £1.5 billion announced in 2020 by 2024 which includes supporting increased workloads in general practitioner (GP) surgeries, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. In September 2022, ‘Our plan for patients’ announced measures to support GP practices increase access and manage workloads, such as the provision of 31,000 phone lines and funding to expand the staff roles working in general practice, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
We are working with NHS England, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. This includes measures to improve recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new schemes, alongside continued support for existing recruitment and retention schemes for the general practice workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, the New to Partnership Payment and the Supporting Mentors Scheme.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of social care capacity in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
No specific assessment has been made. Local authorities have a responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to ensure that the care needs of the local population are met.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under the age of (a) four and (b) 11 were admitted to hospital for a tooth extraction due to decay in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
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 children in the Plymouth City Council local authority boundary area saw a dentist every twelve months in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested on patient attendance at practices, which dental practices are currently accepting new patients and the funding of National Health Service dental services is not held in the format requested. Patients are registered with a practice for the duration of a course of treatment and can receive care from any practice with available appointments.
Data on the additional £50 million provided for NHS dental services in 2021/22 is not held in the format requested. However, there was expenditure of £629,148 in the South West region. Analysis of data on this additional funding shows that activity was targeted at lower income patients and those with urgent needs, although expenditure by local authority is not held centrally.
While regional data on the number of dentists delivering NHS care since 2011 is collected, this data shows information at the former strategic health authority level and does not show information by the current regional structure. The GP Patient Survey Dental Statistics from January and March 2022 shows that 78% of respondents rated their NHS dental experience as positive. The Dental Access Centre in Devon receives an average of 7,000 urgent dental calls a month or approximately 350 calls per day. No central assessment of the level of cases of people conducting their own dentistry procedures in England has been made.
In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport.