NHS England announces increased dental activity targets
30 September 2021
NHS England has announced an increase to the level of activity that will be required in order for NHS dental contract service holders in England to receive 100% of their contract value.
The letter, signed by Chief Dental Officer for England, Sara Hurley, states that mean performance in August 2021 was 70%, with 63% of contractors anticipating to achieve or exceed the existing 60% threshold. It highlights that IPC guidance is under review, and that this means that NHS England is “only able to set contractual priorities for the next quarter as [it needs] to retain the ability to respond to any revision of IPC requirements”.
As such, the letter confirms that:
- Contracts will continue to be in place for 100% of normal volumes
- There will be ongoing contractual protection for practices unable to deliver their full contractual activity between October and December 2021
- In October-December 2021, clawback will not be applied to practices delivering at least 65% of contracted UDAs and 85% of contracted UOAs.
- The rate of clawback will then reduce linearly down to a lower threshold of 52% of UDAs and 60% of UOAs. Below these levels normal clawback will apply.
