What was the amount of financial clawback from dental contracts in 2019, 2020, and 2021, broken down by local health board?
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.