Dental business coach, Dr Alun Rees senses change in the air:
“This ruling could potentially have a bearing on the employment position of associates in dental practice. Would that be a bad thing? It is easy to argue that Uber drivers are closer to the definition of self employed than many dental associates, especially those working in predominantly NHS practices. I know that some specialist dental accountants believe that the current situation is untenable and significant change is inevitable.”
Post 2006, there are problems justifying that an associate working to fulfil a contract of a set number of UDAs and being paid a set amount per UDA, and who does not own the building, employ staff, own their own equipment or take any risks, is self employed.
Alun continues: “General dental practice is a special case I’m told. Why is it different from any other profession or other branches of dentistry? Lawyers, doctors and accountants are all salaried; the argument for dentists to be different, certainly in their early years, is hard to justify.
“Something will have to give; at present the insidious erosion of NHS associate pay is one affect whilst the economic reality of private practice means that associates are paid far less than they were a couple of decades ago.”
The future may bring fewer owners with different models of practice. Perhaps a change of status could be a good thing, producing a more stable workforce who know what they are expected to do, what reward they will receive and their exact terms of employment. Tie that to a defined, long term training structure and it may benefit everyone, especially patients.