Thirty-Fifth Report - Introducing Integrated Care Systems — Select Committees

Recommendations

3 results

2 Accepted

We remain very concerned about the critical shortages across the NHS workforce and the Department’s...

Recommendation

We remain very concerned about the critical shortages across the NHS workforce and the Department’s repeated delays in publishing a strategy to address them. Workforce shortages are widespread across the NHS, and particularly acute in some specialisms, for example midwifery. … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and will publish a long-term workforce plan for the NHS in 2023.

HM Treasury

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6 Accepted

NHS funded dental care is in crisis in some parts of the country, and NHS...

Recommendation

NHS funded dental care is in crisis in some parts of the country, and NHS England’s failure to ensure people can access routine dental care is leading to more acute dental health problems. NHS England, rather than ICSs, remains responsible … Read more NHS funded dental care is in crisis in some parts of the country, and NHS England’s failure to ensure people can access routine dental care is leading to more acute dental health problems. NHS England, rather than ICSs, remains responsible for most NHS dentistry but in some parts of the country it is impossible to find a dentist offering NHS treatment. At our evidence session in November NHS England could not tell us how much longer it expected these gaps in the provision of an essential service to remain. It told us about several changes it has recently made, including increasing payments for complex work, allowing dental health technicians to accept NHS patients for treatment, and increasing the activity cap for high performing practices. Following the session NHS England wrote to us to set out more details on these plans. We welcome NHS England’s assurance that it sees restoring dental services as a critical priority. However even in December 2019, before the pandemic, more than 40% of children and half of adults in England had not received any NHS dental care at all in the previous two years. We were disappointed that NHS England is still unable to say by when it expects the changes it is making to result in more dentists offering NHS treatment. 8 Introducing Integrated Care Systems Recommendation: Alongside the Treasury Minute response to this Report, NHS England should write to us and set out: • The funding intended for NHS dentistry in 2022/23 and 2023/24 and what coverage this provides, in terms of the proportion of adults and children who could access these services, and what services the funding will and will not cover. • Its understanding of the proportion of adults and children using non-NHS dentistry, and the proportion of people who do not access any dentistry services at all. • By when it expects to be able to consistently provide the target level of coverage, and • What patients should do if they require dental care and are unable to find a dentist o Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the committee’s recommendation and sets out the funding intended for NHS dentistry in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The government outlines several measures taken to secure recovery of dental access, improve accessibility and indicates people can attend any dentist accepting NHS patients and where the person is unable to secure an appointment, or they are unknown to a dental practice then they should contact NHS 111 for assistance to find an emergency or urgent appointment.

HM Treasury

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16 Accepted

We have been raising concerns about the lack of long-term planning for the NHS workforce...

Recommendation

We have been raising concerns about the lack of long-term planning for the NHS workforce since well before the COVID-19 pandemic52. We have noted that among comparable OECD countries the UK has relatively low numbers of nurses and doctors per … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government commits to publishing a long-term workforce plan for the NHS in 2023.

HM Treasury

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Conclusions (3)

Observations and findings

1 Conclusion Accepted

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department of Health & Social Care (the Department) and NHS England about the introduction of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in England.1

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states Integrated Care Systems will provide tangible benefits for local population, including the delivery of commitments that are set out in the government’s mandate to the NHS England and accompanying documents.

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9 Conclusion Accepted

The threadbare provision of NHS funded dental care is a further example of a failure to provide preventative or protective routine care leading to more acute health problems.24 NHS England, rather than ICSs, remains responsible for most of NHS dentistry provision in England.25 In some parts of the country it …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the committee's concerns and states that securing recovery of dental access is a key NHS priority, outlining existing measures such as funding allocations and reforms to the national dental contract.

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10 Conclusion Accepted

However, NHS England was unable to tell us how many more dentists it expected these reforms to produce, or by when they would appear. It told us that a sustainable solution required further engagement with the dental profession on the longer-term elements such as workforce and contract reform.29 NHS England …

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the committee's concerns and states that securing recovery of dental access is a key NHS priority, outlining existing measures such as funding allocations and reforms to the national dental contract.

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