Recommendation 26

UDA payment rates are not however, uniform across the country with evidence submitted by the British Dental Association suggesting, for example, that the average UDA rate in North East London ICB is more than £7 greater than the average rate in Lincolnshire ICB.76 Government took the decision in 2022 to introduce a minimum UDA value of £23, with NHSE telling us that this decision did lead to some “slight improvements in activity”.77 As part of the dental recovery plan, NHSE and DHSC agreed to push this minimum value up to £28, leading to 876 individual contracts being uplifted to this new minimum rate. This was a ministerial decision rather than an evidenced–based one, with DHSC’s own analysis unconvinced as to whether the uplift would lead to any real increases in contract delivery.78 The impact of the uplift is not yet known in quantitative terms, but NHSE told us that the qualitative feedback has been positive in terms of supporting the sustainability of the affected practices.79