Nearly six months on from the major changes to the NHS dental contract in Wales, how are things faring? That’s the topic Practice Plan regional support manager for Wales, Louise Anderson, and consultant creative director, Les Jones, tackle in this video.
Having been given little or no notice of the fine detail of the changes, practices continue to struggle with the practicalities of the new segmented targets and care packages. Rather than piloting the changes, practices were simply thrown in at the deep end and expected to find their own way to safer waters.
Despite warnings that the timescale was tight, software companies were also expected to develop systems to accommodate the amendments. Unsurprisingly, the first few months have seen practice admin staff constantly frustrated by claims repeatedly rejected for no apparent reason and grappling with frequent software updates. The additional form filling and complexity saw one clinician report to Louise that he was spending so much time on the computer that he almost forgot he had a patient in the chair.
How best to manage these changes?
Based on Louise’s 35 years’ experience of working under NHS dental contracts in various guises in Wales, her advice to practices is to examine their patient numbers and contract values and be ruthless with diary zoning. Calculate how many existing recall and new patients need to be seen to fulfil the contract and allocate the appropriate number of appointments to them. As she points out, exceeding the quota for either metric will not result in payment.
Louise urges contract holders to get in touch to discuss their options or simply to find a sympathetic ear. Although handing back the contract is not the only option open to frustrated contract holders, the extension of the notice period to 6 months means anyone considering doing so needs to act quickly.
Practice Plan has been welcoming practices into the family since 1995, helping them to grow profitable businesses through the introduction of practice-branded membership plans. If you’re looking for a provider to be by your side through a safe move from NHS to private then, with over 300 years’ dental experience in our field team, you’re in safe hands with Practice Plan… Be Practice Plan and get in touch.
Call 01691 684165 or visit www.practiceplan.co.uk/be-practice-plan/.
This article is sponsored by Practice Plan.
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