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NHS Dental Services
NHS Dental Services is part of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). We're responsible for processing NHS dental claims and paying NHS dentists. We manage the NHS contracts through a system called Compass. You can find more details on our NHS Dental Services webpage.
Whilst you’re a foundation dentist you’re salaried and employed by a lead employer NHS Trust, contact your local Health Education England office for further details.
Compass
Compass is our contract management, payments, and superannuation system.
It is a web-based database that contains all contract, payment, pension, and activity information for all NHS dental contracts.
In Compass, you can view:
- all claims submitted under your performer number
- monthly statements
- monthly FD report
How to log in to Compass
We'll have sent you a Compass activation email. This is sent to the email address you provided when you applied to the performer list.
To set up your Compass log in details:
- select the link in the activation email
- create a username, password and memorable word
What to do if you cannot find your activation email
If you cannot find your activation email in your inbox, junk mail, or trash folders, call us on 0300 330 1348. You'll need to have your performer number and GDC number when you call.
What to do if you have forgotten your log in details
If you've forgotten your password or memorable word, you can reset them from the Compass log in page.
If you've forgotten your username, call us on 0300 330 1348. You'll need to have your performer number and GDC number when you call.
Information you can access in Compass
Compass gives you access to:
Monthly statements
Your monthly statement includes a summary of processed claims. This will list details of all the patients you have seen, together with the band of treatment claimed.
You can view a short video to find out how to view your pay statement.
Activity
During your training year, you have an estimated number of Units of Dental Activity (UDA) that you're expected to achieve. You'll be required to record these figures monthly in your e-portfolio and also upload documentary proof of these figures from Compass.
Although the information is included in your monthly statement you should not upload the details of the patients and treatments you've provided. You can find a more suitable record of UDAs achieved in the activity actuals report.
You can view a short video to find out how to access the activity actuals report.
Reports
NHS Dental Services provides a Foundation Dentist (FD) report for you and your trainer monthly. This report provides you with a breakdown of the clinical data set, the number of claims for the various treatments and, where recorded, the number of teeth treated.
It also gives a breakdown of activity by adult and child and analysis of patients treated by age.
You can view a short video to find out how to access these reports.
NHS Pension Scheme
When you start working as a dentist in the NHS you are automatically opted into the NHS Pension Scheme. In your FD tenure you're salaried and employed by a lead employer NHS Trust as an officer based member. Contact your local Health Education England office if you need any information.
If you then go on to work as a performer in an NHS Practice as an associate, the NHSBSA become your employer for pension purposes. You'll be automatically joined as a new starter and as a practitioner based member, because you'll then be a self- employed General Dental Practitioner (GDP).
You'll find information about the benefits of NHS Pension Scheme on our member hub pages.
It's important you check your personal details are correct. This is to make sure the contributions paid with each employer are linked to your pension scheme membership.
Keeping your personal details up to date
You must make sure that your National Insurance (NI) number has been updated in Compass. It takes 4 quick steps as shown in the YouTube video How to update personal details as a performer in Compass.
If the NI number field in Compass shows a number prefixed with ZZ, this means it's a temporary number that needs to be replaced. You'll need to type over the temporary number with your true NI number.
Your address and email address can also be updated in the same place. Keeping these details up to date will make sure you receive all communications.
Help and guidance
There's a great deal of useful information on NHS Dental Services. This includes our ‘In the Spotlight’ articles about appropriate claiming.
We also have a NHS Dental Services knowledge base resource library. You can use this to find information about dental treatment, treatment bands and costs, Compass, and more.
When you've completed your foundation dental training, you need to contact Primary Care Support England (PCSE) to change your status to Dental Performer on Compass, and work as an Associate on an NHS contract. You can find the PCSE contact details on their website.
Contact us
Our contact centre is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
You can contact us by:
Telephone: 0300 330 1348