Dental Services

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the new draft dental access contract was discussed with (a) representative bodies and (b) dental stakeholders before it was passed by his Department to primary care trusts;

(2) what timetable his Department has set for piloting the new draft dental access contract; and what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of those pilots.

Ann Keen
The Department's Dental Access Programme has been working with the national health service to increase patient access to NHS dentistry. As part of this it has been developing a contract template, based on the existing personal dental services (PDS) regulations to help primary care trusts (PCTs) to tender for new dental services in their area. The template, which is designed to be adaptable to local needs, includes a number of optional schedules for PCTs to choose what is best for their local circumstances. It is not a new contract: all of it is within the current PDS regulations. Its use is optional for PCTs, many of which are developing their own contracts, using the existing flexibilities within the regulations.

The template, which is still being finalised, is intended to set out more clearly existing requirements, which might, at present, be in a number of documents, and to focus more clearly on quality of dental services, as well as volumes of activity. To ensure this is transparent and helpful we have been discussing the template with a wide range of interested parties including PCTs, the British Dental Association (BDA), and dental services providers, as well as Professor Jimmy Steele and his Independent Review team.

A series of detailed meetings has taken place with the BDA—which has been engaged from the outset of the Dental Access Programme with presentations at the national provider workshops and attendance at regional strategic health authority/PCT workshops.

Two national workshops for potential providers were held, in Manchester and London on 27 and 28 April 2009 respectively, to discuss the Department's plans for the development of the PDS Agreement and to take feedback from providers. The national workshops were followed by more focused meetings with a broad range of providers to discuss developments on the contract. Over 40 meetings have so far taken place.

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts on the use of the new draft dental access contract as a basis for contractual discussions with prospective practitioners in (a) existing and (b) new practices.

Ann Keen
The contract template developed for the Dental Access Programme is intended to be available to primary care trusts (PCTs) to use for new procurements of new national health service dental services, if they wish. Comprehensive guidance, including several user guides (covering the contract provisions, insurance, pensions, premises etc.), will be provided for commissioning PCTs when the template is finalised. In addition, a series of workshops will be held regionally for strategic health authorities and PCTs, and e-mail/telephone technical support will be provided. The full programme of workshops and support available to PCTs will be confirmed when the template has been finalised.

The Department is also planning regional workshops for interested providers to inform them of the developments made to the Personal Dental Services Agreement and to provide introductory information on procurement process—including information about how they can bid for new services.

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what timetable his Department has set for public consultation on the new draft dental access contract;

(2) what form the (a) pilot and (b) public consultation on the new draft dental access contract will take;

(3) in what ways the new draft dental access contract programme takes account of the recommendations made in the report on the Independent Review of NHS Dentistry.

Ann Keen
There is no new dental access contract. The contract template currently being developed by the Dental Access Programme is designed to be adaptable, and includes a number of optional schedules for primary care trusts (PCTs) to consider, based on what is best for their local circumstances. The template is within the current Personal Dental Services (PDS) regulations and Statement of Financial Entitlements. Its use is optional for PCTs, many of whom are developing their own contracts, using the existing flexibilities within the regulations.

We intend, however, to use some of the contracts that PCTs will let using the new templates, to pilot aspects of improved quality and access, which were set out in the independent Steele Review of national health service dentistry. As part of the development of the contract template, members of the Dental Access Programme have discussed the quality provisions with members of the Steele Review team.

No formal public consultation on the proposed, optional, PDS contract templates has been undertaken—nor is required. However, we have had a number of discussions with a wide range of interested parties including dentists, PCTs, and the British Dental Association over the previous six months.

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date his officials commenced drafting the new draft dental access contract; and on what date this work was completed.

Ann Keen
There is no new dental access contract. As part of its work to increase access to national health service dentistry, the Department’s Dental Access Programme has been developing a new contract template, which is designed to be adaptable to local needs, and is within existing Personal Dental Services Regulations.

Work on the template started in April of this year, and continues as we discuss it with interested parties. Discussions with interested parties have been ongoing since April—the British Dental Association supported the initial national provider workshops in April with presentations. We hope to finalise the template very soon.

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates his officials met external organisations during the preparation of the new draft dental access contract.

Ann Keen
There is no new dental access contract. As part of its work to increase access to national health service dentistry, the Department’s Dental Access Programme has been developing a new contract template, which is designed to be adaptable to local needs, and is within existing Personal Dental Services Regulations. The template documents have been discussed with a wide number of organisations and interested parties. Over 40 meetings have so far taken place.

Mike Penning
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of drafting the new draft dental access contract.

Ann Keen
No accurate estimate is possible of the costs of drafting the new optional Personal Dental Services templates as the work has formed part of a wider programme, which cannot be disaggregated.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2009, Official Report, column 101W, on dental services, if he will place in the Library a copy of the notes seen by officials of his Department in relation to the visits by the chief dental officer or his representatives to (a) maxillofacial and (b) dental hospitals which were subsequently used in the production of the report by the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board on oral and maxillofacial surgery;

(2) pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2009, Official Report, column 101W, on dental services, on what date each unit was visited; for what reasons each unit was selected for a visit; who the representatives of the review body were at each visit; what the role of each such representative was during the visit; in what format the data were collected in each case; and in what format the data were passed to the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board secretariat.

Ann Keen
The dates of the visits were Royal Lancaster Infirmary 4 July 2007, Great Western hospital Swindon 25 July 2007, Royal Sussex Brighton 6 November 2007, Sunderland Royal hospital 20 November 2007, Royal London 21 December 2007, Southern General Glasgow 14 January 2008. The units were selected to enable the working group to meet with service providers in departments of differing composition and serving different population needs. The original programme of visits was extended at the suggestion of working group members and contributors, to ensure that the working group saw an appropriate balance of type and size of unit.

All visits were made by selected members of the working group and secretariat whose names are given on page 3 of the report. There was no formal programme, the intention was to give the staff of the units the opportunity to present to the working group what they saw to be relevant to the review. The terms of the review did not extend to formal reporting on the visits and any notes taken are not in an appropriate format for placing in the Library. The overall findings, as summarised in the report, were that there should be no change to the current statutory requirement for those training in oral maxillofacial surgery to obtain primary qualifications in both medicine and dentistry but that there should be a separate review of the specialty of oral surgery. This review is now underway.