Tag: Lord Colwyn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to extending the Nursing Agencies’ VAT concession to all healthcare workers in the UK.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government has no plans to extend the Nursing Agencies VAT concession to all healthcare workers in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Health will conduct an assessment of the potential effects of the recent increase in patient charges for NHS dental services in England on people’s ability and inclination regularly to visit a dentist.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department published an Impact Assessment which considered the impact of uplifting patient dental charges by 5% in 2016/17 and 2017/18, a copy of which is attached. We considered that the impact of increasing patient dental charges will mainly affect those of working age, for whom a proportionate increase to their charges is considered reasonable. Those on low incomes and other protected groups will remain exempt. Those not entitled to exemption but on low incomes may also be eligible to receive help with health costs. We do not consider that the uplifts to patient charges for National Health Service dental services in England will have any significant impact on people’s ability and inclination to regularly visit a dentist.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much revenue was raised from patient charges for NHS dental services in each of the last ten years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is able to provide data for patient charge revenue from 2006/07 to 2014/15. Data is not held by the HSCIC prior to this date. Data for 2015/16 will be published in August 2016.

Year	Patient Charge Revenue
	£
2006/07	475,413,015
2007/08	531,433,254
2008/09	571,728,263
2009/10	597,620,482
2010/11	614,270,550
2011/12	634,741,351
2012/13	657,636,481
2013/14	685,093,493
2014/15	714,185,948

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the reported rise in expenditure by NHS Ambulance Trusts, they intend to extend agency spending caps to private ambulance services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has already taken decisive action to support the National Health Service to be the most efficient health system in the world. That is why a series of tough financial controls were introduced last year to help the NHS tackle some of the extortionate rates charged and overspending on agency staff.

In November 2015, hourly price caps were introduced limiting the amount the NHS can pay to an agency for temporary staff. These were reduced gradually over a number of months and will apply to all ambulance trusts and ambulance foundation trusts from 1 July 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average cost per student to the public purse of providing bachelor-level education in dental surgery.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Information on the average cost to Health Education England (HEE) of providing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) education and Dental Foundation Training (DFT) can be found in the tables A, B and C below.

Table A

Cost to HEE of BDS education

BDS	Average tariff	Fee Contribution	Maintenance	Total
Year 1	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 2	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 3	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 4	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 5	£32,600	£9,000	£3,000	£44,600
Total	£163,000	£9,000	£3,000	£175,000

Notes:

1. Average Tariff is the placement fee to cover the placement.
2. Fee contribution is the tuition fee payable in year 5.
3. Maintenance is the Bursary cost.
4. These figures represent the best estimate of average cost to HEE, there may be other costs to the public purse, for example to provide student loans that are not included in these estimates.

Table B

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in secondary care

Placement support	£50,900
Salary/Maintenance	£34,100
Total	£85,000

Notes:

1. Training Placement Support cost is the cost of the dental practice providing training & facilities.

2. Trainee Salary/Maintenance cost is the contribution to the trainee salary and associated costs.

Table C

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in primary care

Dental foundation training salary	£31,044
Dental foundation trainer grant	£9,324
Service costs	£64,164
Total	£104,532

Notes:

1. Training salary is the reimbursement of the salary paid to the dental trainee.

2. Trainer grant is the sum that represents the time spent in supervising a trainee.

3. Service costs is a sum that represents the service costs of employing a trainee.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2016-09-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average cost to the public purse of providing a foundation training place for a dental graduate.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Information on the average cost to Health Education England (HEE) of providing Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) education and Dental Foundation Training (DFT) can be found in the tables A, B and C below.

Table A

Cost to HEE of BDS education

BDS	Average tariff	Fee Contribution	Maintenance	Total
Year 1	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 2	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 3	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 4	£32,600	–	–	£32,600
Year 5	£32,600	£9,000	£3,000	£44,600
Total	£163,000	£9,000	£3,000	£175,000

Notes:

1. Average Tariff is the placement fee to cover the placement.
2. Fee contribution is the tuition fee payable in year 5.
3. Maintenance is the Bursary cost.
4. These figures represent the best estimate of average cost to HEE, there may be other costs to the public purse, for example to provide student loans that are not included in these estimates.

Table B

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in secondary care

Placement support	£50,900
Salary/Maintenance	£34,100
Total	£85,000

Notes:

1. Training Placement Support cost is the cost of the dental practice providing training & facilities.

2. Trainee Salary/Maintenance cost is the contribution to the trainee salary and associated costs.

Table C

Cost to HEE of providing dental foundation training in primary care

Dental foundation training salary	£31,044
Dental foundation trainer grant	£9,324
Service costs	£64,164
Total	£104,532

Notes:

1. Training salary is the reimbursement of the salary paid to the dental trainee.

2. Trainer grant is the sum that represents the time spent in supervising a trainee.

3. Service costs is a sum that represents the service costs of employing a trainee.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-05-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to introducing a tax on sugary drinks, in the light of research published in the British Medical Journal in October 2013 that such a measure could reduce obesity in the United Kingdom by 1.3 per cent.

Lord Deighton

There are difficulties of principle and practice with using tax instruments to promote public health. Unlike smoking, where any level of consumption can have damaging effects, the consumption of most drinks in moderation can be to the benefit rather than the detriment of an individual’s health. Government is instead working with industry to reduce the nation’s calorie intake.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Colwyn on 2014-05-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment NHS England has made of the effectiveness of Local Area Teams in commissioning NHS dental services since April 2013.

Earl Howe

We are informed by NHS England that the Direct Commissioning Assurance Framework, which was published in November 2013, sets out the methodology for how NHS England can demonstrate effective use of public funds in commissioning safe, high quality and sustainable services within available resources

The assurance process is evidence-based and draws on a wide range of information and indicators to assess how well services are being commissioned. The evidence used includes local insight from area teams and wider National Health Service functions. A finance and performance delivery dashboard is also used and dental data is an important component of this. Through this process, NHS England is able to ensure that the delivery of NHS dental services is monitored as an important component of the assurance process and that any concerns are addressed promptly.