Contract values to rise by 1.34% in April
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- Published: Monday, 16 March 2015 08:00
- Written by News Editor
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The Government has accepted the Doctors' and Dentists' Pay Review Body (DDRB) recommendations for a one per cent increase in GDPs’ pay, which will mean an increase in contract values in England of 1.34%. In Scotland there will be a 1.6% increase in fees. The BDA has criticised the DDRB award for its ‘approach and conclusions’. John Milne, outgoing GDPC Chairman said: “We are living in an era of pay restraint, but restraint should not mean pay cuts.”
The British Dental Association (BDA) has countered by criticising both the approach and conclusions’of the DDRB report. It said: ‘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 a Retail Price Index (RPIx) uplift to the review board’s formula, producing a 1.34 per cent uplift for GDPs in England.’ The BDA also commented that the report ‘has yet again failed to grasp the 25% decline in real incomes since 2006, and has called for action on establishing a new basis for calculating dental expenses’.
John Milne 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 an 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.”
BDA Scotland has also criticised the DDRB and its recommendation for a 1.6 per cent pay award for general dental practitioners in Scotland for 2015/16. Dr Robert Donald, Chair of the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee (SDPC) said: “The 1.6 per cent award is extremely disappointing and will do nothing to address the low morale among Scotland's GDPs. From 2009 to 2013 there has been a massive drop in taxable income for Scottish GDPs - according to the government’s own figures. This equates to a pay cut of over £16,000. It would take a pay rise of 23.5 per cent just to bring GDP earnings back to 2009 levels. This isn’t pay restraint. This is a pay cut.”
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.”
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