BDA: Inflation-busting CQC fee rises will place unjustifiable burden on practices
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 26th October 2018
The BDA has slammed plans for inflation-busting fee rises for dentists from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), questioning the rationale for a hike targeting the UK’s lowest risk healthcare sector.
Plans would see GDPs face a 13% increase in fees – over £100 for the average provider – from April 2019, while GPs will see their fees unchanged. The BDA says this represents a wholly disproportionate burden, particularly on smaller practices.
The CQC has been collecting data on primary healthcare services since 2011, and has consistently reported that dental practices, when compared with all other sectors, present the lowest risk to patient safety. The CQC currently inspect 10% of dental practices year, and have found enforcement issues in only 2% of that group – just 0.2% of whole population.
The BDA is demanding an urgent meeting with the CQC and will be calling on GDPs in England to respond to the consultation.
Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, the BDA’s Chair of General Dental Practice said:
“When time and again CQC reports show this profession is delivering the very best for our patients, it is baffling they’re asking us to pay through the nose for them. There is frankly no justification why low risk, high quality care comes with such a high regulatory price tag.
“Our compliance costs have surged by over 1000% in the last decade, and the sustainability of services has already been pushed to breaking point. Many practices will struggle to understand why they face inflation-busting fee increases for doing right by their patients.
“We urge colleagues take this opportunity and spell out to the CQC what these extra burdens will mean for their practices.”
