The National Health Service Primary Dental Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2014

Amendment of the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005

3.—(1) The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005(1) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), for the definition of “course of treatment” substitute—

““course of treatment” means—

(a)

an examination of a patient, an assessment of that patient’s oral health, and the planning of any treatment to be provided to that patient as a result of that examination and assessment; and

(b)

the provision of any planned treatment (including any treatment planned at a time other than the time of the initial examination) to that patient up to the date on which—

(i)

each and every component of the planned treatment has been provided to the patient, or

(ii)

the patient either voluntarily withdraws from, or is withdrawn by the provider from, treatment,

by, unless the context otherwise requires, one or more providers of primary dental services, except that it does not include the provision of orthodontic services or dental public health services and, where the course of treatment is an interim care course of treatment provided under a Capitation and Quality Scheme 2 Agreement in the context of regulation 13A of the NHS Charges Regulations (charges in respect of primary dental services provided under a Capitation and Quality Scheme 2 Agreement), it does not include the treatment mentioned in sub-paragraph (a);.”.

(3) In Schedule 2 (provision of services: units of dental activity and units of orthodontic activity), in paragraph 1, after sub-paragraph (2) insert—

“(3) Where a patient is referred by the contractor for advanced mandatory services to another provider of primary dental services, the appropriate number of units of dental activity provided by—

(a) that contractor; and

(b) the other provider of primary dental services, if that provider is also a contractor,

must be calculated on the basis of the components of the course of treatment which they actually provide, notwithstanding that the treatment constitutes a single banded course of treatment for charging purposes.”.

(4) In Schedule 4 (patient information leaflets), omit paragraph 16 (NHS Direct details).

(1)

S.I. 2005/3361. Relevant amendments were made by S.I. 2006/563, 2007/544, 2008/1700, 2010/22, 2011/1182, 2012/502 and 2273 and 2013/364.