BDA: Government must pay interest on late uplifts
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 18th July 2023
The British Dental Association has told NHS England that NHS contract holders must be provided with interest for unacceptably late implementation of contract uplifts.
The Statement of Financial Entitlement requires uplifts to be applied from 1 April each year, but these have not been paid on time since 2015/16. Last year the uplift was not applied, and backdated payments were not paid until January, nine months after it was due.
Now, following legal advice, the BDA understand that contract holders are due interest on late payments, under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, for each of the years in which payments have been made late. The professional body is willing to support members in bringing forward claims for this interest.
Late payment of these uplifts causes real problems for dental providers, hindering cashflow and business planning, and causing problems for payments to associates who have left a practice before the annual uplift has been determined and applied.
The BDA estimate that contractors are owed over £12 million in interest for late payments in the last financial year and the late payments for the year to date would amount to more than £7 million.
“Late uplifts undermine NHS practices,” says General Dental Practice Committee Chair Shawn Charlwood. “NHS England need to do the right thing – unacceptable delays mean payments must come with interest.”
