National Dental Contract Management (NDCM) service - England only
Following the successful pilot and phase one completion of the mid-year review and year-end reconciliation activities in 2017 and 2018, the national roll out of contract reconciliation activities for all NHS Dental contracts in England by the NHSBSA Provider Assurance Dental team (NHSBSA PAD) was completed in October 2019.
NHSBSA PAD now supports all commissioning teams in England in the delivery of the mid-year reviews and the year-end reconciliation.
The objectives of the collaboration between commissioning teams and NHSBSA PAD is to:
- allow commissioning teams to focus on dental commissioning
- enable the development of a single operating model for mid-year and year-end reconciliation
- ensure consistency for providers
- enable providers to address any underperformance issues before the end of the financial year
- provide a single point of contact for dental providers during their mid-year review and year-end reconciliation activity
Mid-year review overview
The mid-year review gives providers the opportunity to identify and correct any potential issues before the annual year-end reconciliation.
Providers who have not met their expected contracted activity from the previous year may have activity carried forward into the current financial year. They must complete this carried-forward activity first. It does not count towards the achievement of the mid-year review for the current financial year. Any activity carried forward is deducted from the current year’s activity to give an adjusted figure. All providers receive their adjusted figure as part of their mid-year review.
Providers whose adjusted activity is more than 30% of their contracted delivery at the mid-year point are encouraged to review their activity. This will help providers to deliver activity for the rest of the year that’s consistent with their contract. No further action is required.
Providers with less than 30% must complete a mid-year review action plan. This should detail their plans on how they expect to deliver the agreed activity to meet their contract obligations.
For a very small number of providers, failure to provide an action plan, or failure to deliver against the agreed action plan, may result in contract sanctions being levied against the contract. Prior to any contract sanctions being placed on the contract, the commissioner or NHSBSA Provider Assurance will be in open dialogue with the provider.
Year-end reconciliation overview
The completion of year-end reconciliation is a contractual requirement for all dental contracts. The following service lines are reconciled at the end of each financial year:
- Units of Dental Activity (UDA)
- Units of Orthodontic Activity (UOA)
- courses of treatment that involve provision of sedation services
- courses of treatment that involve provision of domiciliary services
NHSBSA PAD supports commissioners to review the annual contracted target against the actual delivered activity. This reconciliation process is completed by September each year.
PDS+ contracts and advanced service providers sit outside the scope of the reconciliation process for the NHSBSA PAD. Commissioning teams should contact PDS+ and advanced service providers to explain their contract attainment and the process to follow.
Information and data overview
The information and data included in the year-end reconciliation and mid-year review is submitted by providers using:
Claims are accepted on the Compass system up to two months from the completion date of the course of treatment.
Claims submitted later than this must still be submitted, as per the regulations. However, these claims will not be included in mid-year and year-end reconciliation.
Only claims submitted up to and including 30 September are included as part of the mid-year reconciliation. To make sure all claims are included in your reconciliation you should submit all claims by the mid and year-end cut off dates.
Providers should discuss the Compass scheduling dates with their team responsible for submitting claims. The responsibility to submit claims within two months remains with the provider.
‘Late claims’ submitted outside of the two month window should still be submitted to ensure accurate reporting of patient treatments. These are processed for patient charge revenue but do not count towards delivery figures. This includes when a course of treatment is closed before completion.
You can find more information about late claims in our Knowledge Base.
All submission information is available to providers by 1 July every year on the year-end statement. Please note that this is the activity data gathered directly from Compass and is still subject to change following the year-end reconciliation process. The final year-end reconciliation will be detailed within your year-end letter which are published by 31 July annually. Providers also have access to monthly schedules in Compass, as well as the year-end report.
Providers are now able to view their year-end data in the year-end dashboard on eDEN.
Contract management arrangements for 2023-24
In April 2023, NHS England updated the Policy Book for Primary Dental Services (PDF: 1.8MB) and the Policy Book for Primary Dental Services Appendices (PDF: 2.2MB).
Year-end reconciliation 2023-24
The 2023-24 Year-end reconciliation encompasses the full 2023-24 financial year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024).
NHS England has published new guidance, setting out the arrangements and principles for 2023/24 year-end reconciliation across general dental service contracts (GDS) and personal dental services agreements (PDS) within England.
All year-end letters will be uploaded into Compass and NHSBSA PAD will send a communication to all business owner email addresses held in Compass to advise when the letters are available to view.
For contractors to view the letter, log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting.
- View Published Reports.
- Input AYRPR into the Report Type field.
For commissioners to view the letters, log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting.
- View Published Reports.
- Input AYRCR into the Report Type field.
If you need to update your Business Owner email address in Compass, or have any questions regarding your year-end reconciliation, contact Provider Assurance Dental at dentalcases@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.
Year-end 2023-24 documents:
Year-end 2023-24 flow chart (Word: 116KB)
Mid-year review 2023-24
NHSBSA PAD will deliver a mid-year review for 2023-24 in line with the contract management arrangements detailed in the updated the Policy Book for Primary Dental Services (PDF: 1.8MB).
The mid-year review is communicated to dental contracts, in relation to the following service lines only:
- Units of Dental Activity (UDA)
- Units of Orthodontic Activity (UOA)
All letters will be uploaded to Compass and NHSBSA PAD will send a communication to all business owner email addresses held in Compass to advise when the letters are available to view.
For contractors to view the letter, log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting
- View Published Reports
- Input MYRPR into the Report Type field
For commissioners to view the letters, log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting
- View Published Reports
- Input MYRCR into the Report Type field
NHSBSA PAD will send letters to all contractors informing them of the level of activity that they have delivered at the mid-year point (1 April to 30 September).
Mid-year 2023-24 documents:
Mid-year 2023-24 flow chart (Word: 74KB)
Contract Management Arrangements for 2022-23
On 5 April 2022, NHS England published the letter Dental services year end arrangements and 2022-23.
On behalf of NHS England (NHSE), NHSBSA PAD recently emailed dental providers a letter covering year-end arrangements for 2022-23.
Additional information from NHSE for dental providers in England (Word: 65KB) is now available.
Mid-year review 2022-23
NHSBSA PAD will deliver a mid-year review for 2022-23 in-line with the contract management arrangements detailed in the 2022-23 Dental Services year-end arrangements letter.
The mid-year review is communicated to dental contracts, in relation to the following service lines only:
- Units of Dental Activity (UDA)
- Units of Orthodontic Activity (UOA)
All letters will be uploaded to Compass and NHSBSA PAD will send a communication to all business owner email addresses held in Compass to advise when the letters are available to view.
For contractors to view the letter, log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting
- View Published Reports
- Input MYRPR into the Report Type field
For commissioners to view the letters log in to Compass and:
- Select Reporting
- View Published Reports
- Input MYRCR into the Report Type field
NHSBSA PAD will send letters to all contractors informing them of the level of activity that they have delivered at the mid-year point (1 April to 30 September).
Contractors that have delivered more than 30% will be informed that they will not be required to undertake a mid-year review and that no further action will be required.
Contractors that have delivered less than 30% at the mid-year point and ex-prototype contractors that have delivered less than 27% at the mid-year point, will be required to complete an action plan.
Year-end reconciliation 2022-23
The 2022-23 Year-end reconciliation encompasses the full 2022-23 financial year (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023).
All letters will be uploaded into Compass and NHSBSA PAD will send a communication to all business owner email addresses held in Compass to advise when the letters are available to view.
For contractors to view the letter:
- Select Reporting.
- View Published Reports.
- Input AYRPR into the Report Type field.
For commissioners to view the letters:
- Select Reporting.
- View Published Reports.
- Input AYRCR into the Report Type field.
If you need to update your Business Owner email address in Compass, or have any questions regarding your year-end reconciliation, contact Provider Assurance Dental at dentalcases@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.
Force majeure events
Occasionally, there are unforeseen circumstances that a contractor may experience which can have a detrimental effect on the delivery of their contract. This is referred to a force majeure event.
If you have experienced exceptional circumstances that have impacted the delivery of your contract, you can apply for dental relief.
For further information, we have an example list of force majeure events for which you can claim dental relief, and events which are not eligible for dental relief.
Force majeure: allowable and non-allowable circumstances list (PDF: 203KB)
Force Majeure applications relating to the 2022-23 financial year are now closed.
If you have an un-reported Force Majeure event affecting your delivery for the 2022-23 financial year, contact Provider Assurance Dental at dentalcases@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.