How has it changed and are there changes ahead?

Efficient payroll is one of the nuts and bolts that keep a business running smoothly – the often-invisible glue binding everything together.

And what a year payroll has had! The industry was already preparing for planned changes to come into effect in April 2020, but after the Coronavirus hit and the UK went into its first national lockdown, it had to adapt, and fast.

With dental practices forced to close for a short period last year, and most having to modify employees’ schedules and working hours once they reopened, payroll processes would have needed to be up to the challenge.  

Furlough as centre stage

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), referred to as ‘furlough’ by pretty much everyone, had the biggest impact on payroll and it is likely that your practice was part of the scheme since its introduction in March 2020.

At time of writing, furlough has been extended until the end of April 2021, having already had a couple of extensions and alterations. The fundamental object of the scheme is to help businesses retain employees, with the government paying a portion of their wages (up to a maximum of £2500 a month). At the start, the government also covered employer NI and statutory employer pension contributions, although this is no longer the case in furlough’s current form.

The furlough scheme adapted itself, broadly, to the pandemic’s timeline. In late June, in anticipation of lockdown measures easing over the summer, a Treasury Direction set out details of ‘Flexi Furlough’ to operate, initially, from 1 July to 31 October. This would allow employers to manage their workforce flexibly, by bringing furloughed staff back for any amount of time or shift pattern. From 1 August, reflecting the government’s expectation that people would soon be returning to work, the level of grant was also slowly tapered.

But in November, as the situation in the UK got tough again, the Chancellor announced that furlough would be extended to March 2021, with yet another extension, to April 2021, announced just a month later. 

Furlough has put the resilience of payroll processes to the test, in an intense and ever-changing landscape. Resilience is key because although furlough took centre stage, there were a number of other new measures payroll had to contend with.  

What else might affect your practice’s payroll?

• From 6 April 2020, employment allowance (EA) for eligible businesses increased from £3,000 to £4,000 per year, allowing them to reduce their NICs liability. But from April 2021, EA can only be claimed if a business/charity has an employer’s NICs bill below £100,000 in the previous tax year.
• If anyone at your practice drives a company car that was first registered at any time from 6 April 2020, tax rates are changing to encourage the use of low-emission or electric vehicles.
• Also taking effect from 6 April 2020, if you did make a redundancy payment, note that employers must now pay Class 1A NICs on any part of a payment that exceeds the £30,000 threshold.
• Employees are also now entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) upon meeting various criteria.
• What wasn’t implemented as planned in 2020, though, was legislation for Off-Payroll working in the private sector (IR35); it was pushed back until April 2021. This allows HMRC to collect tax and NI from the employer, in cases where a worker provides their services through an intermediary.

If your head is spinning just reading this, Wagemate is a specialist provider that will manage your payroll and let you get on with running your practice. Using a provider will not just save you time, it will also save you stress, ensuring that all the latest measures are accounted for and that people are paid accurately and on time – which is essential, even if not everyone in your practice is on the same payment schedule.

Whether your practice is large or small, how you manage all the functions of payroll, which go way beyond wages, is central to successful operations. Get ahead, get organised and consider outsourcing for peace of mind.

To better manage your payroll, contact payroll specialists Wagemate today,
tel: 03330 102102 or email info@wagemate.com

Evidence-based dentistry is a staple of the modern profession. Every process implemented by the entire dental team, from clinical procedures to infection control protocols, is backed by science. Why? To ensure the safety and effectiveness of everything that is done within the dental practice. While crucial in all areas of dentistry, it is particularly pertinent within dental implantology, where techniques, materials and technologies continue to evolve.

Keeping up-to-date

Remaining abreast of the latest research means that clinicians and their teams can deliver the best possible treatment for their patients according to the science understood at that time. This enables dentists and oral surgeons to adapt their surgical and restorative sequences in order to reduce the risk of potential complications. It also enables dental hygienists and dental therapists to enhance their maintenance techniques so as to help their patients enjoy the benefits of implant treatment for longer.

Furthermore, new information and research paves the way to new techniques and innovative types of treatment that enable more patients to benefit from dental implants. For instance, research and scientific study in the past decade has introduced the profession to the concept of immediate dental implants, to full-arch reconstruction and to zygomatic implants. Whether clinicians use these in practice or not, the point is that they have a choice of treatments at their disposal and only by keeping up-to-date with the latest studies in the field are they aware of all the options.

Quality of a paper

There is no argument that new papers are essential for the sharing of knowledge and the betterment of the profession as a whole. However, with so many documents now easily accessible via online platforms, it has become important to assess the quality of each one before deciding to implement any recommendations in practice.

There are several features to consider when determining the reliability of a paper. First, consider the type of document – original research, review article, clinical study, clinical trial or opinion – as this should suggest how much of the contents are based on science and facts, and how much is based on the authors’ interpretations and/or personal experience. Depending on the type of paper, there are various further aspects to evaluate, such as sample size, relevance, originality, timescale and potential bias. It is also important to reflect on what you would conclude from the results presented and whether this matches the authors’ conclusions – discrepancies can occur in interpretation or due to bias/conflict of interest.

Clinicians may find it useful to refer to what is known as the “Hierarchy of Evidence”,[i] [ii] which organises document types according to quality and authority. Applied to healthcare, at the bottom of the pyramid is expert opinion and patient experience, followed by unfiltered information via case-controlled studies and reports, cohort studies and randomised controlled trials. Working towards the top, the filtered information is critically-appraised individual articles, critically-appraised topics and then systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

An invaluable resource – the ADI Gateway

So, we appreciate the importance of access to the science and clinical research supporting our profession. But how often have you gone to check a paper that you read recently and struggled to find it amongst the enormous gaggle of studies, reviews and research articles available online? Or, have you lost a frustrating amount of time reading papers without actually finding one you can trust to support your current practises or that helps you adapt your protocols effectively?

Given the mammoth expanse of studies within the field, searching for the latest and most reliable evidence in dental implantology can be particularly difficult. The ADI has introduced a new resource – the ADI Gateway – to make it simpler for dental professionals to access the latest evidence in the dental implant field. This resource has been created by Professor Nikos Donos – ADI Academic Representative – and a team of clinical academics and experienced clinicians.

The ADI Gateway provides links to a wide range of clinically relevant and authoritative papers. The platform is organised into main topics which are each sub-categorised according to key areas and common questions asked by professionals. Links to appropriate consensus papers from recent consensus conferences of worldwide leading organisations such as EAO, ITI, EFP, AAP and AO are then presented, all in one place for convenience.

Evidence is everything

Knowing why you do what you do at every stage of dental implant treatment is crucial for ensuring that you always do the very best by your patients. Remaining on top of the evidence and utilising it accordingly will not only support good clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, but it will also give you confidence in the quality of your everyday work.

To access the ADI Gateway or to join ADI, please visit the website www.adi.org.uk

[i] The Information Standard. Finding the Evidence. A key step in the information production process. November 2013. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/tis-guide-finding-the-evidence-07nov.pdf [Accessed January 2021]

[ii] University of Canberra Library. Evidence-based Practice in Health. https://canberra.libguides.com/c.php?g=599346&p=4149721 [Accessed January 2021]