Confidence up but contract reform uncertainty remains

Published recently, the index canvasses primary healthcare providers on their outlook over the next one to five years, to provide an insight into their opinions and levels of confidence.

A combined figure of both the short (12 months) and long term projections (one to five years) is used to provide a measure of overall business confidence within the primary healthcare sector*.

Private services drive growth

Combined confidence amongst the dentists surveyed has increased from a net balance of minus -8 to -5, an increase of 13 points over the past two years, representing the biggest rise across the three professions. Long term confidence amongst dentists has slightly improved since the last survey, up from -57 to -54.

The rise in confidence could be reflective of a profession that benefits from more non-NHS income. A third of those surveyed (37 per cent) want to increase their private work, up from 29 per in last year’s index. Indeed, more than half (56 per cent) expect that a ‘foot in each camp’ of a mixture of NHS and private services will be the most valuable business model in the coming years.