Private practice profits leave NHS behind - NASDAL
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- Published: Wednesday, 23 March 2016 06:57
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Average profits in the UK’s private dental practices are beginning to leave those of NHS practices behind, according to the latest annual statistics from NASDAL – the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers. 2015 saw the gap between the two widen considerably – an average private practice making a profit of £140,129 per principal, compared to an average NHS practice profit of £129,265. Indeed, private practices have seen an increase in fee income of over 8% compared to 2014.
Ian Simpson, Chartered Accountant and a partner in Humphrey and Co, which carries out the statistical exercise said, “All types of practice have seen a sustained recovery in profitability. The typical private practice profit exceeds typical NHS practice profit by approximately £10,000 and this is likely to be due to private practices having greater control over their income than NHS practices. Costs seem to be static across all practices.”
Associates’ profits have been flat-lining for over a decade now. Average profit in 2015 (£68,024) was almost identical to that of 2014 (£68,544) – only a slight decrease (approximately £500), likely to be due to increases in insurance and subscriptions costs.
Nick Ledingham, of Morris & Co, Specialist Dental Accountants and Chairman of NASDAL observed, “It is positive to see that the UK dental market has continued to grow at a rate of around 4.4% with relatively unchanged costs and a prolonged recovery in profitability.”
Also provided at the press conference where the benchmarking results were announced were the quarterly NASDAL goodwill survey from Alan Suggett, specialist dental accountant and partner in UNW LLP, and an update on legal issues including the uncertainty in NHS dentistry and the elongation of the practice sales process by Chairman of the NASDAL Lawyers’ Group, Andrew Lockhart-Mirams.
The annual Benchmarking Survey statistics are gathered from the accountant members of NASDAL across the UK who together act for more than a quarter of self-employed dentists. The statistics provide average ‘state-of-the-nation’ figures so NASDAL accountants can benchmark their clients’ earnings and expenditure and help them run their practices more profitably. The basis of the survey figures is 2015 tax returns and accounts with year ends up to 5 April 2015.
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