Yesterday NHS England published its latest Preparedness letter for primary dental care.
This confirms the contractual arrangements for NHS dentistry for the period 1 January to 31 March 2021. Practices which deliver 45% of their contractual units of dental activity (“UDAs”) will be deemed to have delivered their full contractual obligation.
From 1 January 2021 there will be a return to the usual contractual measurements of UDAs, units of orthodontic activity (“UOAs”) and courses of treatment (“COT”). The contract targets have been adjusted to 45% of the NHS contract target in respect of UDAs and 70% of the target for UOAs for the last quarter of the NHS financial year.
If these targets are reached there will be no claw back under an NHS contract.
In the event that a practice falls short, there is some additional protection for those that still achieve at least 80% of the targets set out above. In terms of UDAs, if a practice delivers at least 80% of the 45% requirement between January and March (i.e. 36% of overall contracted activity for this period), NHS England will still waive some of its claw back rights. Practices meeting between 80 and 100% of the 45% target will be deemed to have met a sliding scale of between 80 – 100% of their overall contract target and be paid accordingly.
However, if a practice delivers less than 80% of the 45% target between January and March (i.e. less than 36% of contracted activity), they will only be taken to have delivered the actual activity delivered during this period. For example, if they achieve 35% of their contractual UDAs they will only be paid 35% of the contract value, as opposed to being paid 80% of the contractual value if they achieve 36%.
The contrast here in treatment seems stark and will likely cause great difficulties for any dental practices already struggling.
The British Dental Association (“BDA”) has confirmed that it has refused to sign up to this arrangement which it believes will ‘threaten practice viability and undermine patient care’ and is not the approach it would expect during an ongoing pandemic. According to the BDA,
‘NHS England’s own contract data, which we have seen, suggests in November only 43% of contract holders are likely to escape penalties. This is untenable. Most dental practices provide a mix of NHS and private care and many are already suffering due to a lack of support for private dentistry throughout the pandemic’.
We are aware that the impact of COVID-19 on dental services is up for Parliamentary debate on 7 January 2021 so this will be one to keep an eye on.
If you have any questions in relation to this content please contact a member of Sintons’ specialist dental team.
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