Today (1 April) marks the introduction of changes to the Welsh NHS dental contract but its rollout has been lambasted by the BDA, with practice managers left scrambling for information on the morning it came into force.
The British Dental Association (BDA) said ‘poor communication’ meant that the new contract had come into force ‘utterly untested’. Individual practices in Wales reportedly did not receive final details of the changes from health boards until just days before they were due to work under the new contract.
An anonymous practice manager at a mixed practice in north Wales found this short notice ‘absolutely shocking’.
She said: ‘It’s not the health board’s issue – they didn’t have any information to give us until the last minute. For previous changes we’ve always had posters displaying information for patients a month in advance. I’m still getting my head round everything this morning and the changes have already happened.’
The government is thought to be working on a patient information leaflet, though this is still yet to be published.
In particular, practices have struggled to understand the care package system and what level of treatment would change the price that patients have to pay. However, the practice manager did note that there have been ‘no issues’ with the system so far. ‘I thought it would be worse than it was,’ she concluded.
Speaking in a video on Instagram, dentist and practice owner Imran Kassam described the situation as a ‘massive ruckus’. He said: ‘Obviously, it’s early stages that they’re talking about at the moment. Nobody exactly knows how it’s going to work out so it’s quite unpredictable.’
Is the Welsh contract going ‘from bad to worse’?
The BDA said that changes were likely to increase the cost of care ‘by a large margin’ for many patients. It said: ‘With recent increases in the cost of living, these new charges could be unaffordable for many. A simple examination (check-up) for a new patient will be going up from £20 to £27.21 – a 36% increase.’
Russell Gidney, chair of the BDA’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, raised concerns about the impact of this on the number of practices willing to operate within the NHS. He said: ‘From today, many patients across Wales will have to get used to more costly, less frequent dental care.
‘But the risk all now face is that utterly untested reforms will push more practices out of the NHS, taking the access crisis from bad to worse.
‘Whoever forms the next administration in Cardiff Bay will inherit a service on the very brink. They will need to put together a rescue package if NHS dentistry in Wales is going to have a future.’
The association concluded: ‘The Welsh Government’s failure to heed the concerns of the profession will leave a difficult legacy for the next administration.’
‘The snap decisions they’ve forced on this profession’
It was first confirmed that the units of dental activity (UDA) system would be scrapped in Wales under the new contract in September 2025. The British Dental Association (BDA) welcomed the changes, but advised caution as ‘we need to see the small print’.
The full NHS dental regulations were released in February 2026. These explained the conditions that providers must meet to take on an NHS contract, contract terms such as length and compulsory services, and financial terms such as how charges will be calculated and administered. However, a corresponding statement of financial entitlement and model contract were not published alongside the regulations.
The BDA criticised the ‘mad rush’ that ‘late publication’ was causing to Welsh practices. It said: ‘Practices have been given little to no time to assess how the fine details may impact on their business plans and patient base.’
Russell Gidney said: ‘The Welsh Government needs to own this. Patients will pay the price for the snap decisions they’ve forced on this profession.’
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