ENGLAND: The National Health Service (NHS) recently announced the first significant modification to its dental contract in sixteen years, including implementing a minimum UDA value.
The NHS revealed the results of the Dental Contract Negotiations for 2022/23. The contract modifications result from the government's March 2021 request to NHS England to lead the next phase of dental system reform. This was then followed by a year of discussions with the frontline dental staff, the general public, patients, and other stakeholders.
The NHS believes these modifications will increase patients' access to dental treatment nationwide. As a result of the contract revisions, NHS dentists will be compensated extra for complicated situations. In addition, dental therapists will be permitted to accept NHS patients for fillings, sealants, and preventive care.
Among the modifications to the dental contract are:
Introducing upgraded UDAs to serve patients with greater demands, recognising the variety of treatment alternatives currently reimbursed under Band 2.
Producing educational materials for patients, the general public, and dental teams regarding NICE recall intervals and adding an additional field to the FP17 form to facilitate peer review and monitoring of adherence to individualised recall intervals.
Developing a minimal indicative UDA value.
Addressing misconceptions regarding the utilisation of skill mix in NHS dental care and reducing administrative hurdles that hinder dental care professionals from functioning within their full scope of practice.
Where feasible, taking measures to maximise access to existing NHS resources, primarily through funding policies that enable the delivery of more activities per year.
Improving patient information by mandating more frequent Directory of Services updates.
Since the release of COVID-19, several offices have reached capacity, with patients waiting months for an appointment. As a result of the pandemic's effects, the NHS expects that the contract modifications will boost the number of dentists available, allowing dental services to recover.
