Once expenses of running their businesses are taken into account, this equals a 1.34 per cent increase to the dental contract.
Health Minister Lord Howe said:
"Our strong economy means we have been able to accept the recommendation for a one per cent increase to Dentists' pay, broadly in line with other healthcare workers. Once expenses of running their businesses are taken into account, this equals a 1.34 per cent increase to the dental contract.
"As the oral health of the nation improves we want to support dentists to continue to concentrate on prevention rather than cure.”
The British Dental Association (BDA) has criticised both the approach and conclusions of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) in its recommendations for pay awards for General Dental Practitioners in England for 2015/16.
The DDRB has opted to leave the question of dental expenses for GDPs to negotiation. Rather than negotiating, however, the Department of Health, has simply applied Retail Price Index uplift to the review board’s formula, producing a 1.34 per cent uplift for GDPs in England.
The BDA has said that the report has yet again failed to grasp the 25 per cent decline in real incomes since 2006, and has called for action on establishing a new basis for calculating dental expenses.
John Milne, Chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC), said:
“We aren’t surprised by the DDRB’s conclusions, but we unhappy about their approach.
“The DDRB has backed a low uplift and placed dental expenses on the too difficult list. So now we have the unedifying sight of the government stepping in to provide a quick fix as a substitute for meaningful negotiation.
“What we need is a fit and proper mechanism for establishing uplift for expenses, not last minute improvisation. The disproportionate rise in expenses facing practitioners cannot continue to go unrecognised. It needs proper consideration.
“The current approach does nothing to arrest or even recognise the long term fall in practitioner incomes, and simply adds ambiguity to an already unsustainable position on pay. Dentists are realists. We are living in an era of pay restraint, but restraint should not mean pay cuts.”