In 2008-09, the Department spent an estimated £125,000 on commissioning specialist consultancy to support the new dental access programme. Precise costs and headcount figures are not available because some of the consultants supported a range of activities in which the dental access programme was only one element. Input from departmental staff to support the programme has been provided from within existing departmental resources at no additional cost to the Department.
The dental access programme is providing on-going support to strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to help them improve access to NHS dental services and make the most effective use of the extra national health service funding, now totalling more than £2.25 billion, made available for primary dental care services. Information on expenditure on the dental access programme in 2009-10 will be available after the year end.
(2) with reference to page 88 of Chapter 7 of the independent review of NHS dental services in England, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of implementing the four longer-term aims identified by the Review;
(3) with reference to page 84 of chapter 7 of the Independent Review of NHS dental services in England, whether he has estimated the cost of implementing the seven immediate priorities identified by the Review.
Work has begun to estimate these costs. Funding has been identified for the implementation of the seven immediate priorities and to determine the costs of the medium and longer term priorities.
We have had no such discussions.
As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings. Professor Steele met a wide range of stakeholders as part of his independent review and these are listed in an annex to his review. This has been placed in the Library and is also available on the Department’s website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_101137
Officials with policy responsibilities for oral health and dental education within the chief dental officer’s team are leading on the review with the help of an external consultant. As at July 2009, the consultant’s fees and the costs of providing accommodation and services for meetings amounted to a total of approximately £43,000. Estimating and costing the proportion of the time, which officials have devoted to the review within their other duties, could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
We hope to publish the report of the review by the end of the year. It has taken longer than expected because of the need to take account of helpful recommendations in the report of the independent review of national health service dental services in England led by Professor Jimmy Steele. The continuing development of the world class commissioning initiative, which is intended to ensure that the health and care services provided by the NHS effectively meet the needs of the population, is also relevant to this review.
(2) which of the medium-term actions identified by the review his Department has accepted; and what mechanism his Department has put in place for implementation in each such case;
(3) with reference to page 87 of the independent review of NHS dental services in England, which of the seven immediate priorities identified by the review his Department has accepted; and what steps his Department has taken towards implementation in each such case.
The Government have accepted all the recommendations of the review in principle, subject to working through the detail of their financial implications and the outcome of piloting. The report recognises the more difficult future fiscal environment, and rightly puts an emphasis on piloting, cost containment and more efficient ways of working.
Work has begun to implement the seven immediate priorities identified, and a programme is being developed to take forward the implementation of the other recommendations, and the contract pilots.
Funding has been identified for this year for the immediate priorities. Budget plans for 2010-11 are still being finalised.