Written question WQ83987

Contract payments are made to dental contractors monthly for completion of a required level of NHS dental activity (measured as Units of Dental Activity “UDAs”) assigned to the overall contract value. Where the contractor performs less than 95% of the activity agreed under the contract, Regulations require health board to consider the recovery of the amount undelivered. Contractors can also hand back funding if, for example, they have performed within the 5% tolerance level but do not want, or are unable to, provide the level of activity in the following year. Where funding is recovered health boards are expected to reinvest the amount in alternative NHS dental services.

Since the start of the pandemic the monitoring of contracts using UDAs has been suspended and alternative payment mechanisms and measures are in place to support practices during the recovery of NHS dental services.

The amount of dental funding recovered by each of the health boards for the financial years 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 are in the table below. Total NHS primary care dental expenditure is £185m-£190m per annum.

Health Board

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

Aneurin Bevan

£648,000

£475,000

Nil

Betsi Cadwaladr

£1,958,410

£1,670,888

Nil

Cardiff and Vale

£785,867

£492,468

Nil

*Cwm Taf Morgannwg

£135,572

£883,572

Nil

Hywel Dda

£1,028,000

£1,848,000

Nil

Powys

£270,802

£342,359

£16,500

*Swansea Bay

£822,572

£843,602

Nil

TOTAL

£5,649,223

£6,555,889

£16,500

Data source: Health board returns to Welsh Government

*Dental practices in Bridgend transferred from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg (now Swansea Bay) health board into Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board with effect from April 2019.