The responsibility for commissioning local NHS dental services in England and Wales rests with commissioning authorities (local area teams in England and health boards in Wales). Commissioning authorities hold the budget and have powers to contract for the provision of dental services according to the needs of their local populations. When they wish to commission services, commissioning authorities will advertise an invitation for prospective bidders to express an interest in bidding for the available activity.
The timescales involved often last for many months and the process can be arduous. Weeks of frantic activity alternate with weeks of waiting to hear the outcome of each stage, and you have no guarantee of success. Generally, you will need to convince the commissioning team that you are capable of delivering value for money, high-quality services from within a business-focused environment.
During the COVID-19 pandemic we answer your frequently asked questions on NHS England contracts and abatement.
NHS England contracts: What’s happening with the 2021-2022 NHS contract year?
NHS England has increased the threshold for dentistry from 45% to 60%, and in orthodontics from 70% to 80%. The cliff-edge drops in funding remain at 36% for dentistry and 56% for orthodontics.
We produced advice for the profession:
Advice - NHS England targets January - March 2022
England - Side agreement for associates January - March 2022
England - Side agreement for associates (orthodontics) January to March 2022
Spreadsheet to help you work out NHS income from UDAs with various thresholds, clawbacks, abatements and offsetting
Advice - NHS England targets October - December 2021
England - Side agreement for associates October - December 2021
England - side agreement for associates (orthodontics) October to December 2021
England - Examples of pay calculations for BDA side agreements
Video:
James Goldman further explains the UDA targets and side agreements for 2021
Blog: Ministers double down on NHS targets
NHS England contracts: What happened with quarter four targets?
We negotiated for some months with NHS England regarding the support package for contract holders in England. We refused to sign up to a deal which saw practices face steep financial penalties if they were unable to hit 45% of their pre-pandemic UDA targets.
We produced advice for the profession:
Advice |
Related advice |
Expert templates |
Events
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Training essentials – courses for the whole team
Clinical seminars – an in-depth exploration of clinical topics
Webinars – live and on-demand lectures covering a range of subjects.
Conferences – information about the annual British Dental Conference and Exhibition, the Scottish Dental Conference and Exhibition, and group conferences for dentists in community and hospital dentistry
Branches and sections events listing |
