“Delayed, disappointing and not actually an uplift at all” is the ADG’s response to last week’s Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) announcement of the pay review for dental practices for 2024/5.
NHS dental contract holders will receive an uplift of 4.64% overall, backdated to April 2024. This is a pay cut for dental practices, which is a recipe for disaster. With dentistry in crisis, and a huge gap in the dental workforce, the ADG believes this is not the time to hit dentistry so hard. DDRB recommended a 6% uplift, and the ADG estimates the actual costs dental practices are facing are significantly higher.
Dental practices are trying to manage raises across the full spectrum of their costs. The DDRB’s ‘uplift’ is giving dental contract holders an expenses increase to run their practice of just 1.68%. With the increase in costs and the impact of inflation this makes the ‘uplift’ – actually a cut.
According to the ADG, cost increases dental practices are facing in 2024/5 include:
- Supplier costs for laboratories are up by 10%
- Dental practice materials are up by 6%
- Staffing costs are increasing by at least 5%
In addition, the long wait and delays to the announcement of the DDRB 2024/5 pay ‘uplift’ made for anxious times for dental practices throughout England. Given the ongoing impact of the National Insurance changes from April 2025, the ADG urges that the uplift for 2025/26 be communicated earlier to allow practices to financially plan for the coming year. ADG members are keen to support Labour’s manifesto commitments, but these cannot be delivered without realistic additional funds, delivered on time.
Neil Carmichael, Executive Chair, ADG, said: “Delayed, disappointing and not actually an uplift at all is the ADG’s response to the DDRB pay announcement. Our Association is the expert on the ‘mixed economy’ of NHS and private dentistry and as such is best placed to advise on the reality being faced by our member dental practices up and down the country. We are urging the DDRB, the DHSC and NHS England to work well in advance with the dentists at the ‘coal face’ who can explain the reality of the crisis being faced by practices – large and small. We must work together on a recovery plan to put dentistry back on its feet. A fair and reasonable pay uplift is essential, as well as prioritising boosting the dental workforce.”
