News feed - Practice Plan

All the latest dentistry news, all in one place.

Our dental news feed will be regularly updated to help you stay informed and keep up-to-date with everything that's happening in the industry.

Regulation

GDC Chair will step down from role in 2021

Bill Moyes, who has been Chair of the GDC for the past eight years, will stand down from the role in September 2021.

Report on resilience of mixed/private practices post-COVID-19 published

A collaborative group of dental bodies have published a report to investigate the validity of the claim “there will be a dearth of dental practices on the high street in 18 months’ time.”

CDO Sara Hurley changes fallow time requirements for practices in England

The chief dental officer for England has amended the fallow time requirements for dental practices.

NHS England: clarification fact sheet on dental contract

The clarification, issued by NHS England and NHS Improvement, covers abatement reconciliation, patient care activity, other contracts, eg orthodontic, domiciliary, and staffing assurance. It answers many of the questions raised by GDPs, although the language can be technical. Read more

Hospital and community dentists to receive pay rise for ‘vital’ COVID-19 work

The pay rise will be backdated to 1st April 2020 and is in recognition of their 'vital contribution' during COVID-19. The pay rise was welcomed by the BDA, but they also said that more needs to be done to sustain the ‘long term integrity of the service’. Read more

NHS England confirms abatement figure and sets out contract issues

NHS England and the CDO England have set out key NHS contractual issues caused by COVID-19, during lockdown and those that apply since 8 June. The letter confirms that abatement of 16.75% will be applied to the majority of contracts from 1 April until 8 June. Read more

Dental charity calls on government to freeze NHS patient charges

The Oral Health Foundation has urged Matt Hancock to temporarily freeze NHS patient charges in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter, issued in early July, says a freeze could help thousands of people combat dental disease and prevent deterioration of health. Read more

Government pledges to hold postponed inquiry into dentistry

The Government has pledged to hold a planned inquiry into dentistry that was postponed due to last year’s General Election. Jeremy Hunt, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, will hold the inquiry looking into issues surrounding the profession. Read more

More than half of Scottish practices feel vulnerable

Fifty-one per cent of practices don’t believe they'd be financially viable with the current funding model going into the next ‘return to work’ phase. The survey by the Scottish Dental Practice Owners’ Group also found that 57% would consider remaining closed after COVID-19. Read more