Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 potential effect of introducing a compulsory eyesight test for all children aged under 5 on the number of diagnoses of (a) Amblyopia and (b) other serious eye conditions in childhood.
Answered by Steve Brine
No assessment has been made by the Department on whether introducing a compulsory eyesight test for children aged under five would have an effect on the number of diagnoses of Amblyopia and other serious eye conditions in childhood.
All babies have eye screening at birth and again at about six weeks of age by a general practitioner (GP) or health visitor.
In most parts of England, children are offered a screening test to look for reduced vision in one or both eyes during their first year at school.
In addition all children aged under 16 are eligible for free National Health Service sight tests and parents and carers are encouraged to raise any health concerns, including eye health concerns, with their GP.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has made an assessment of the potential benefits to the oral health of children in England of replicating the Scottish Government's Childsmile programme.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Scottish approach is centralised and could not be replicated directly in England as local authorities (LAs) are responsible for assessing the oral health needs of their local population, commissioning oral health improvement programmes and are not under central control.
Many LAs have had programmes in place that contain elements similar to those within the Scottish Child Smile programme, for example tooth brushing programmes and community fluoride varnish schemes.
Public Health England has published a number of resources and is working locally with LAs to support LAs in improving child oral health.
NHS England has recently launched the Starting Well programme, which will work in 13 areas in England with the worst oral health to reach out to families with children under five who are most at risk of dental disease, who may not currently be visiting a dentist. Dental practices are currently in the process of applying to join the programme.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/primary-care/dental/starting-well/
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for inequalities in children's oral health across the UK.
Answered by Steve Brine
National dental surveys show that inequalities in children’s oral health are associated with deprivation, geography and ethnicity. For example, children in the north of England have higher levels of tooth decay than those in the south; and those from Chinese and Eastern European backgrounds have higher levels of tooth decay than other ethnic backgrounds.
Oral health inequalities are influenced by socio-economic factors, for example, differences in levels of income and employment experienced by different groups; and by behaviours such as, having a poor diet high in sugar and low access to fluoride.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what childcare facilities his Department makes available for its staff; how much his Department spent (a) overall and (b) per child on those facilities in the last 12 months; and how many of his Department's staff use those facilities.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department does not provide any childcare facilities for its staff on its estate. The Department does participate in a voucher scheme but this is a salary sacrifice where staff give up part of their salary in exchange for vouchers for childcare. There is no cost to the Department for this scheme.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many dental patients who were fined for not being entitled to free dental care, were subsequently refunded in (a) the Batley and Spen constituency, (b) Kirklees and (c) Yorkshire in each of the last three years.
Answered by Steve Brine
The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.