Dataset Description

This dataset comprises information on dentists in England who were on the performers list and delivered NHS care in the financial years 2016-17 to 2022-23. It outlines the number of performers who delivered within different ranges of 'Units of Dental Activity' (UDA)

To see this data broken down by region, please go to the Regional performer by unit of dental activity (UDA) delivery for financial years 2016-17 to 2022-23 dataset.

On 7 February 2024, the government and NHS England published the paper: 'Faster, Simpler and Fairer: Our Plan to Recover and Reform NHS Dentistry' (dental recovery plan), in which a commitment was made to consult on the proposal for a ‘tie-in’ to NHS dentistry for newly qualified dentists. The purpose of this dataset release is to better inform the public on the amount of NHS dentistry being delivered through UDAs by dentists, to support informed responses to this consultation: Proposal for a ‘tie-in’ to NHS dentistry for graduate dentists - GOV.UK.

Overview of Service

A UDA is in essence a unit of activity, and is used within NHS contracts to describe the value of a dental course of treatment. For example, a dentist performing an examination would claim one UDA, while a dentist performing a course of treatment to create a crown for a patient would claim 12 UDAs. ‘UDA’ has a consistent definition across all NHS dentistry contracts, and can therefore be used to assess activity delivered by different performers.

Dentists’ income from NHS care is funded by contracts negotiated with the NHS, structured around UDAs as a measurement of their activity, and the amount of care delivered. Whilst there is an agreed number of UDAs for a provider to deliver in their contract, not all providers deliver their full contracted activity.

For further information on UDAs and NHS dentistry: NHS Dental Statistics: Supporting information and publication guidance - NHS England Digital

Data Source

NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Data Warehouse

Data Collection

The dataset is derived from FP17 forms submitted by dentists via the Compass system.

Time Periods

The data covers financial years 2016-17 to 2019-20 and 2021-22 to 2022-23.

Due to COVID-19, information on dental activity for 2020-21 is unavailable.
Dental practices closed in March 2020, offering only remote urgent care. This significantly reduced activity, patient numbers, finances, and treatments (FP17/FP17W claims). Reopening began June 8th, 2020 with safety measures. See here for further details

Geography

This data is for England only.

Caveats

Please note that if a dentist delivers UDAs in more than one region in England, they will be counted separately in each region that they performed in. This means that some dentists will appear twice in the regional data.

Because some dentists are counted twice in the regional dataset, it is likely that the total number of dentists included in the national dataset will not equal the sum of those included in the regional dataset.

Please note, that whilst the consultation on the proposal for a ‘tie-in’ to NHS dentistry is seeking views on a policy that would only apply to domestically trained dentists, this dataset also includes dentists who have qualified overseas.

Dentists that exclusively deliver units of orthodontic activity (UOAs) are not included in this data. It may be that some of the dentists included in the data may also deliver UOAs alongside the UDAs represented in this data.

Citation

NHS Business Services Authority. "National UDA by Performer for financial years 2016-2024." NHS Business Services Authority Open Data. Accessed [Date Accessed]. URL: https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/national-uda-by-performer-for-financial-years-2016-2024