Recommendation 8

In the written evidence submitted to our inquiry, concerns included that: • UDA rates are linked to the figures used in 2006 which no longer reflect current need.13 Rates vary from practice to practice so dentists in the same location may be paid different amounts for the same work; 14 • the contract is rooted in ineffective incentives that make it easier to complete targets by seeing patients with lower levels of need, while making high–needs patients the least “welcome”; 15 and • the overall level of funding means that NHS rates are not competitive with the private sector. The resulting contraction in NHS coverage leads to a “feedback loop”, in which the design of the contract leads to underspends and less spent on dentistry than was intended.16