Dental Services: Contracts

(asked on 4th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a dental contract which misses NHS England’s activity targets of 45 per cent due to exceptional circumstances, such as shielding or self-isolation, as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will (a) receive 100 per cent of their payment for the fourth quarter of 2021 and (b) not be required to make up that activity in the financial year 2021-22.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 22nd March 2021

Contractual arrangements for quarter four have been introduced by NHS England and NHS Improvement requiring dental practices to deliver 45% of contracted units of dental activity from 1 January to 31 March 2021 to be deemed to have delivered the full contractual volume.

National Health Service commissioners have the discretion to make exceptions, for instance in cases where a dental practice has been impacted by staff being required to self-isolate and the reinstatement of shielding during the national lockdown. Cases will be considered on an individual basis and could include a decision by the commissioner to waive its rights to recover any portion of the financial clawback. The ability for contractors to make up the shortfall of activity preceding or following the exceptional circumstances would have been considered and ruled out prior to approving the exceptional circumstances. Commissioners will follow the Policy Book for Primary Dental Services when making these decisions.

Reticulating Splines