The British Dental Association has warned Government has once again failed to deliver the recommendations of the pay review body, delivering another real-terms pay cut to England’s struggling NHS dental service.
Confirmed today, an overall contract uplift of 3.55% for 2025/26 is incapable of meeting the recommended 4% uplift in take home pay made by the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) in late May.
While the Government embarked on a cost-of-service exercise earlier this year, it is yet to be published and the professional body stressed that again there has been no attempt keep pace with the surging costs of delivering NHS dentistry.
At 2.39%, the expenses element of the uplift is barely a quarter of what the BDA estimate as necessary to cover the added costs facing practices. Last year staff costs escalated off the back of hikes to both National Insurance and the National Living Wage, lab fees surged by over 16% and the materials bill went up by nearly 5%. [1]
This uplift should reach practices next month. The award for 2024/25 was confirmed in January, a record-breaking delay. The BDA is set to supply its evidence for the 2026/27 awards later this month, stating there is no excuse for future delays, and that it is entirely plausible to ensure awards are in place at the outset of the next financial year, which is a stated government objective. [2]
The BDA say the government now has both the time and the data to draw a line under a wholly unsustainable approach to these awards.
Shiv Pabary, Chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “Once again, government has chosen not to follow our pay review body’s recommendations. Awards will reach practices 6 months late and fail to reflect the soaring costs of delivering NHS dentistry.
“If Ministers want this service to have a future, they must turn the page.”
References
[1] Estimated average practice operating cost increases derived from BDA Practice Owners Survey 2024, along with data from the ONS, and uplifted to reflect impact of NMW and NI hikes.
[2] “We have listened to the workforce and know that it is not acceptable that pay awards are not delivered on time. This Government is committed to NHS staff receiving their pay uplifts at the beginning of the financial year.” Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP, 22 May 2025.
