Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the has made of the adequacy of the 1.68% uplift to the practice expenses element of the NHS dental contract in 2023-24, in the context of changes to the costs of running a dental practice.

The pay elements of the 2024/25 National Health Service contracts for general dental practitioners and salaried dentists were all uplifted by 6%, in line with the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration’s recommendations. The overall contract value was uplifted by 4.64%, net of pay and expense elements. Uplifted payments were backdated to 1 April 2024.

Whilst no specific assessment of adequacy has been carried out, the use of a gross domestic product deflator for expenses was consistent with other areas across the NHS, including for general practitioners and ophthalmology.