BADT POSITION STATEMENT ON PAY

The British Association of Dental Therapists is becoming increasingly concerned about the number of Dental Therapists and Hygienists that work in NHS practices providing predominantly NHS care, that are not being paid by the principal or management of the practice.

The Chief Dental Officer has made it clear in her updates that practices should be paying their teams and Dental Therapists and Hygienists are part of that team.

Dentists, Therapists and Hygienists are mainly self-employed, and according to a recent survey of our members 44% of them are not receiving their pay.

The CDO for England stated in the Issue 3, Preparedness letter for primary dental care-25 March 2020:

“A requirement on practices to ensure that all staff including associates, non- clinical and others continue to be paid at previous levels.

An agreed and fair reduction for any variable costs associated with service delivery (e.g.: in recognition of reduced consumable costs) will be applied to all contract values”.

The Chief Dental Officer of Wales has stated “all practices within GS contracts in Wales have been directed to honour the income generated from NHS delivery for all staff. Anyone who is not receiving this income is advised to contact the Health Board”.

All the dental team should be paid if the practice is receiving NHS funds. No member of the team should be excluded, and this could be viewed as discrimination and inequality

Several corporates including Portman, Rodericks, MyDentist and Bupa are paying all their teams including the Therapists and Hygienists.

All NHS practices must follow suit.

BADT/BDA Joint Position Statement 25th June 2020

Dear Colleagues,

You may recall that some weeks ago, BADT produced a position statement (see above post) around receiving NHS pay from your practice during the lockdown, if you usually undertake NHS work (and had agreed to be available for work, if needed, during lockdown). Many members have been able to use this to get the NHS money they were entitled to.   However, some members have had the response that the BDA are the association for dentists, not BADT, and the practice owners will only take instructions from the BDA.

So I am very pleased to be able to show you a new joint position statement from BADT and the BDA!

The BDA were extremely supportive when we explained the issue, and were more than happy to put their name to a joint statement.

Please CLICK HERE to download the joint position statement

I hope those of you who need it will find it useful, but please let us know if you encounter further problems.

Those of you who are finding that it is the practice manager rather than the principal or owner stopping you from receiving any NHS money, watch this space, another statement is on its way imminently!

I would like to record the immense determination and drive that BADT President Debbie McGovern has shown on this. As a practice owner herself (both NHS and private) she has been so aware of the protocols around NHS pay, that without her driving this, we would never have known that this was enforceable. 

Please can I take this opportunity to remind you all that this document is confidential to members, and should not be shared outside the membership. If you have colleagues that would benefit from this information then encourage them to join BADT, especially while it is still free. Sadly, I have had a couple of messages from non-members who have obviously seen the previous statement and have asked for advice and help, I hope you understand that this is not how it works!

Best wishes

Debbie Hemington
Chair, BADT