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Dental, physio and aesthetics clinics: 56 checked facts and figures, with sources
Each entry is the fact one of our guides rests on: a rule, a date, a price or a figure we worked out, with where it came from. Quote any of them; a link to the guide lets your reader check the working.
Diary, no-shows and recalls
From 1 April 2026 an NHS dental contract in England of 100 UDAs or more must deliver 11 urgent courses of treatment for every £10,000 of relevant contract value, rounded up. A £180,000 contract owes 198 a year, about four a week over 48 weeks, credited at a £15 fixed credit plus a £60 activity credit each, and delivery under 96% at year end means the activity payment for the shortfall is recovered.
Source: NHS England, "NHS dentistry: quality and payment reforms contractual guidance" (published 26 March 2026, version 2, last updated 29 July 2026), sections 3.1 to 3.9; NHS England letter of 22 January 2026 confirming the 8.2% requirement; GDS Contracts Regulations 2005, regulation 17A (inserted on 1 April 2026 by S.I. 2026/265) and Schedule 3, paragraph 59, on legislation.gov.uk. All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal or clinical advice; the contract holder checks the figure in the commissioner's letter.
Every private cancellation charge that survives a challenge has the same three features: the patient agreed it before booking, the amount reflects what the empty slot actually costs the practice, and it is not charged when the slot is re-filled; and no such charge is possible on an NHS appointment, because the April 2006 contract removed it, so a mixed practice needs two policies and the front desk needs to know which patient is which.
Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015 Part 2 and the CMA's unfair contract terms guidance (updated 22 July 2026); GDPUK, 27 May 2026 (BDA on NHS missed appointments and the 2006 contract); patient-side pages on dental missed-appointment charges read for the gap, 2026-10-01; Software of Excellence reminder data for the reduction figures. Not legal advice; the practice manager and, for the clinical exclusions, a GDC registrant review the policy before it is used.
A practice with 220 appointments a week at a 4.3% FTA rate, 40% NHS, re-filling a fifth of missed slots, loses about £25,000 a year in chair time; the reminder sequence one vendor measured (email at 20 and 7 days, text at 2 days) would recover about £10,000 of it and the reply-to-confirm step about £18,000, for roughly £4,600 of texts.
Source: Software of Excellence utilisation whitepaper (2015) via its blog of March 2021 (4.3% to 2.5% to 1.2%); Dentistry.co.uk, 24 November 2025 (SMS 4p to 12p, about 40p an appointment); GDPUK, 27 May 2026 (BDA: about one in seven NHS patients, about £56,000 a year, no charge since April 2006); CMA guidance on cancellation charges; all read 2026-10-01. Tested in headless Edge 2026-10-01.
An NHS dental practice in England may not charge a fee for a missed appointment, and the NHS Business Services Authority says it must have an agreed fail-to-attend and short-notice cancellation policy. The contract regulations let a contractor end a course of treatment in only three cases (violence reported to the police, an unpaid NHS charge, or an irrevocable breakdown notified to the patient and NHS England), so the policy works by recording the course as incomplete, after which further care is a new course of treatment.
Source: NHS website, "What happens when you visit an NHS dentist" (page last reviewed 13 March 2025); NHS Business Services Authority knowledge base article KA-01765, "When can I claim a course of NHS dental treatment as Failed To Return (FTR)?"; NHS England, "NHS dentistry: quality and payment reforms contractual guidance" (version 2, last updated 29 July 2026), sections 4.9 and 4.10; GDS Contracts Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, standard 1.7.8. All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal advice; the contract holder and a GDC registrant approve the policy before it is used.
For an adult last seen on 14 April 2026 on a six-month recall, the examination is due on 14 October 2026, the invitation goes on 14 September, and the reminders fall on 24 September (email), 7 October (email) and 12 October (text with reply-to-confirm); a child on the same visit cannot be set beyond twelve months whatever the risk score.
Source: NICE clinical guideline CG19, dental recall (2004): intervals of 3 to 12 months under 18 and 3 to 24 months for adults, set on risk (recommendation 1.1.5, read on the NICE page 2026-10-02); Software of Excellence reminder sequence (2015 data, March 2021 blog); Dentally recalls FAQ for the questions owners ask ("Why has Mrs X not received a recall?"). Tested in headless Edge 2026-10-01.
Patients, plans and complaints
At the 1 April 2026 charges (Band 1 £27.90, Band 2 £76.60, Band 3 £332.10) there are only three ways a course can move up a band, and the balance is the new charge less what was paid: Band 1 to 2 is £48.70 (76.60 - 27.90), Band 2 to 3 is £255.50 (332.10 - 76.60) and Band 1 to 3 is £304.20 (332.10 - 27.90). So a patient who pays £27.90 at the examination and later needs a crown owes £304.20 more, which is 10.9 times what they handed over at the desk (304.20 / 27.90). We worked these from the charges in regulation 4 and checked that the three balances add up: 48.70 + 255.50 = 304.20.
Source: The National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3477), regulation 4, as revised on legislation.gov.uk (charges of £27.90, £76.60 and £332.10; paragraph 6, one charge per course of treatment; paragraph 7, discontinued courses); NHS.uk, "How much will I pay for NHS dental treatment?" (page last reviewed 13 March 2025, which lists the same charges); NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-02003 (England charges from 1 April 2026). All read on 6 October 2026. We could not confirm from the primary source any wording on collecting a balance, on refunds, or on a two-month rule inside the regulations; the page we read for regulation 4 contains no such sentence. Not legal advice.
In England an NHS filling, root filling, inlay, porcelain veneer or crown that has to be repaired or replaced within 12 months of the date it was provided is redone at no charge, unless another provider has treated the tooth, the patient was advised (and it was recorded) that the restoration was temporary or not the recommended one, or the cause is trauma. Separately, no charge is made for further treatment in the same or a lower band that the same provider decides is needed within 2 months of a completed course, even if it is carried out later.
Source: National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005, regulations 4 and 6, as amended to 23 June 2026; National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 11; NHS website, "How much NHS dental treatment costs" (page last reviewed 13 March 2025, showing the charges in force from 1 April 2026). All read on legislation.gov.uk and nhs.uk in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal advice.
The GDC does not set a response deadline; it requires the practice to respond within the time limits in its own procedure and to give the patient that procedure when it acknowledges the complaint, while the NHS regulations fix the acknowledgement at three working days; so the date the practice is held to is the one it wrote itself, and a procedure that promises ten working days and takes twenty has failed twice.
Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 5 (5.1 to 5.3); Local Authority Social Services and NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009; BDA complaints handling guidance and CQC dental mythbuster 34 as summarised in search results read 2026-10-01; Dental Complaints Service (GDC) for private dentistry. Not legal advice; the practice manager owns the procedure and a GDC registrant reviews any clinical response.
A review reply can breach patient confidentiality without naming anyone: confirming that the reviewer attended, the date, the treatment or the bill is disclosure of health information, so a compliant reply answers only in the reviewer's own terms, names what the practice changed, and moves the detail to the complaints procedure, which the GDC requires every practice to have and to tell patients about.
Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4 (confidentiality) and principle 5 (complaints procedure, 5.1 to 5.3); Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 fake and incentivised review provisions in force 6 April 2025; our own drafting rules. Tested in headless Edge 2026-10-01.
We wrote this list of 24 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 6 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Law and the GDC's standards put four time limits on the practice in these 24 steps: three working days to acknowledge, updates at least every 10 days, one month for a records request, and six months before an NHS practice must explain a missing response. None fixes the date of the full response, which the practice sets itself.
Source: NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(1), read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.2.1, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.7, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); GDC Standards 5.1.4, read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.1, read 1 October 2026; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.4, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(7), read 1 October 2026; Dental Complaints Service guidance for dental professionals; ICO guidance on the right of access; Our complaints procedure guide; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 5; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3.5 and 5.3.6, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(3) and (4), read 1 October 2026; ICO guidance on data protection impact assessments; GDC Standards 5.3.10; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2), read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2); GDC Standards 5.3.7, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 14(2)(d), read 1 October 2026; Dental Complaints Service; GDC Standards 5.3.11; Dental Complaints Service guidance; CQC Regulation 16; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 5.1.6, read 1 October 2026; CQC Regulation 16; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: Patient complaint checklist for a dental practice: from receipt to the final response
A follow-up on unscheduled treatment stays inside the GDC's standards when it does four things and avoids two: it restates the clinician's plan, states the price and the date the quote holds to, offers appointments, and offers the clinician for questions; it does not describe the risks of waiting and does not offer a discount for booking quickly.
Source: GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 2 (2.3 give patients the information they need to make decisions; 2.4 about costs) and 1.7 (put patients' interests before financial gain); our own drafting rules. No external template was used. Tested in headless Edge 2026-10-01.
The Dental Complaints Service looks at private dental complaints raised with it within 12 months of the treatment, or of the patient becoming aware of the problem, counted for each treatment and not for the whole plan. It sends the patient to the practice first, telling them to ask for a response within ten working days, and its last step is a panel of two lay members and one dental professional whose recommendation is not legally binding.
Source: Dental Complaints Service website (dcs.gdc-uk.org): home page, "Our complaint resolution process" for patients, "What we can help with" for patients and for professionals, "Complaint handling best practice", "The relationship between DCS and GDC". All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal advice; the practice manager owns the complaints procedure, a GDC registrant writes or approves any clinical response, and the practice's indemnifier advises on any offer.
CQC, GDC and patient data
We worked the dates and the volume. A risk assessment replaced on 14 March 2027 is kept until 14 March 2029 (current period ends, plus 2 years). A monitoring result dated 10 November 2026 is kept until 10 November 2031. As an illustration of ours, not an HSE schedule, 6 hot outlets read once a month give 72 readings a year, and 5 years of them is 360 readings; a practice that also logs 4 cold outlets monthly adds 48 a year, 240 over 5 years, so 600 readings in all. Each sum was done twice.
Source: HSE, "Legionnaires' disease: what you must do", with its sub-pages "Identify and assess sources of risk", "Monitoring and keeping records" and "Reviewing what you do" (hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/what-you-must-do/), and "Testing and monitoring your water system for legionella". Read 23 October 2026. We did not read the Approved Code of Practice L8 itself, HSG274 Part 2 (which sets the detailed regime for hot and cold water), or the English health technical memorandum for dental decontamination (HTM 01-05); dental unit water line rules are in those and are not covered here. Not legal advice.
We worked the dates from the Home Office guide. A transfer on 1 December 2026 gives a fresh-check window that runs to 30 January 2027 (30 days to 31 December, then 30 more). A Positive Verification Notice dated 15 January 2027 expires six months later, on 15 July 2027, with no grace period for the follow-up. A nurse who started on 3 March 2020 and left on 31 August 2026 was employed for 6 years 5 months 28 days, so the file is kept until 31 August 2028, which is 8 years 5 months 28 days after the start date. All three calculations were done twice.
Source: Home Office, "Right to work checks: an employer's guide" (GOV.UK publication page, last updated 1 October 2026), and its PDF "Employer's guide to right to work checks, 1 October 2026", including the introduction, the three checks, "Record and retain" and "Transfer of undertakings (TUPE transfers)". Read 22 October 2026. The guide's civil penalty amounts were not in the text we read, so none are quoted. We did not read the separate code of practice, the TUPE Regulations 2006 themselves, or the 2026 extended-liability provisions beyond a skim. Not legal advice.
A nurse on average earnings of £520 a week gets 6 weeks at 90% (£468, so £2,808) and 33 weeks at £194.32 (£6,412.56), a total of £9,220.56. A part-time receptionist on £150 a week gets 90% (£135) for all 39 weeks, £5,265, because £135 is below £194.32. For a baby due in the week starting Sunday 7 March 2027, the qualifying week starts Sunday 22 November 2026 and 26 weeks' service means starting by Sunday 24 May 2026.
Source: GOV.UK, "Maternity pay and leave: Pay" and "Maternity pay and leave: Eligibility" (up to 39 weeks; first 6 weeks 90% of average weekly earnings; next 33 weeks £194.32 or 90%, whichever is lower; at least 26 weeks' continuous employment continuing into the qualifying week, the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth; average earnings of at least £129 a week; employer gives form SMP1 within 7 days if refusing). Read 14 October 2026.
A nurse aged 50 with 8 years' service on £520 a week gets 8 x 1.5 = 12 weeks, which is £6,240. A nurse aged 30 with 8 years gets 8 weeks, £4,160. A hygienist aged 50 with 8 years on £900 a week is capped at £751, so 12 weeks is £9,012 and not £10,800. The ceiling is 20 years at 1.5 weeks, which is 30 weeks, £22,530.
Source: GOV.UK, "Redundancy pay" (employees with at least 2 years' service; weekly pay capped at £751 and maximum £22,530 for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026; half a week's pay per year under 22, one week 22 to under 41, one and a half weeks 41 and over; length of service capped at 20 years; weekly pay is average over the 12 weeks before notice; 6 months to apply). Read 13 October 2026.
A practice open 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, is open 50 hours. One first-aider working Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 17:00 and another Tuesday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00 cover 48 of the 50 hours (96%), leaving Monday 17:00 to 18:00 and Friday 08:00 to 09:00. If either is on leave, cover falls to 36 hours (72%).
Source: HSE, "First aid at work: what employers need to do" (as a minimum a suitably stocked first-aid kit, an appointed person, and information for employees; "no hard and fast rules on exact numbers"; assess nature of work, workforce, work patterns and absences of first-aiders; HSE has not approved training providers since 1 October 2013; accident book for more than 10 employees). Read 11 October 2026.
A receptionist slips at 9.40 on Monday 5 October 2026 and is off from Tuesday 6 October. Seven days are 6 to 12 October, so the injury becomes over-7-day on Tuesday 13 October, and the report is due within 15 days of the incident, by Tuesday 20 October. A death or specified injury must be reported without delay and received within 10 days, which for the same Monday is Thursday 15 October.
Source: HSE, "When do I need to report an incident?" (death or specified injury of a worker: notify without delay and a report must be received within 10 days; over-seven-day incapacitation of a worker: notify within 15 days of the incident; non-fatal accidents requiring hospital treatment to non-workers: without delay, with the 10-day rule); HSE RIDDOR guidance as quoted by secondary sources for the counting of days (the day of the accident is excluded, weekends and rest days are included). Read 10 October 2026.
GOV.UK sets the fine at £2,500 for each day without proper cover. A renewal that slips by 12 days costs 12 x £2,500 = £30,000, and a certificate not on display adds £1,000, so £31,000 for a gap that a diary entry 30 days before the renewal date would prevent. Over a three-year run of renewals the same 12-day slip, repeated once a year, would reach £90,000.
Source: GOV.UK, Employers' liability insurance (employers must get cover as soon as they become an employer; at least £5 million from an authorised insurer; fine of £2,500 for each day not properly insured; fine of £1,000 for not displaying the certificate where employees can read it; exemptions for employers of family members only or of people based outside England, Scotland and Wales; check the insurer on the Financial Conduct Authority register). Read 9 October 2026.
A nurse who started on 2 March 2026 gains protection on 1 January 2027 instead of 2 March 2028, which is 426 days earlier. A receptionist starting on 17 August 2026 reaches six months on 17 February 2027, 547 days before the old two-year date of 17 August 2028; a nurse starting on 2 November 2026 reaches it on 2 May 2027, 550 days before 2 November 2028.
Source: GOV.UK, Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update (updated 25 September 2026: unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced to 6 months for dismissals from 1 January 2027, and compensatory awards uncapped); Business.gov.uk, Unfair dismissal rights (employers) (last updated 30 July 2026: 2 years reduced to 6 months from 1 January 2027, dismissals with an effective date before then still use the 2-year period, day-one protections unchanged, review probation periods). All read 8 October 2026.
We counted the duties in regulations 5, 6 and 7 of the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 as printed on legislation.gov.uk. Regulation 5 holds six (avoid sharps where reasonably practicable, use safer sharps, no recapping unless a risk assessment requires it, written disposal instructions, marked secure containers near use, and review at suitable intervals), regulation 6 holds two (information and training) and regulation 7 holds six (record, investigate and act on the injury, then medical advice, any treatment recommended including post-exposure prophylaxis, and a consideration of counselling). That is 14 duties, of which 13 are written as "must" and one, counselling, as "consider". A practice with a sharps policy that covers only containers and training has met 3 of the 14.
Source: The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/645), regulations 5, 6 and 7, on legislation.gov.uk, read 6 October 2026. Not legal advice; the HSE's own guidance pages were not reachable when we checked, so ask your occupational health provider for current post-exposure advice.
We read the HSE fee schedule effective 1 April 2026 and regulation 6 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017. A registration application costs £27 and regulation 6 sets no renewal date, so for a practice that keeps the same registration for ten years the fee works out at £2.70 a year. By contrast, work that needs consent rather than registration is charged at £234 an hour, so under seven minutes of HSE assessment time on a consent costs more than a whole dental registration (7 × £234 ÷ 60 = £27.30).
Source: Health and Safety Executive, "HSE fees and charges: current rates" (effective 1 April 2026, page updated 31 March 2026), "Work with ionising radiation that requires registration" (updated 21 January 2025), "Notify, registration or consent for work with ionising radiation: Overview" (updated 27 March 2026) and "How to notify or apply" (updated 3 February 2025); Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/1075), regulations 6, 14 and 18; Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, "Apply for a registration or consent from HSENI". All read on 5 October 2026. Not legal advice.
We wrote this questionnaire of 5 questions and 8 outcomes from the rules set out in 2 of our guides and the sources each outcome names. Only two of the eight outcomes tell the practice to apply for a new enhanced check for a member of staff. Three end with no check or a decision the practice records itself, two reuse a check that already exists, and one is the separate rule for a CQC registration applicant.
Source: Care Quality Commission, DBS checks for CQC registration (page last updated 19 December 2025), read 2 October 2026; Care Quality Commission, Dental mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment (page last updated 2 October 2023); GOV.UK, DBS checks: guidance for employers (last updated 11 September 2026); read 2 October 2026; Care Quality Commission, Dental mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment (page last updated 2 October 2023), read 2 October 2026; Care Quality Commission, Dental mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment; GOV.UK, DBS checks: guidance for employers (last updated 11 September 2026); read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, DBS Update Service and DBS Update Service: employer guide, read 2 October 2026; Care Quality Commission, Dental mythbuster 19; Care Quality Commission, Dental mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment; GOV.UK, DBS checks: guidance for employers (last updated 11 September 2026) and DBS Update Service; read 2 October 2026; each outcome names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: Does this member of dental staff need a DBS check, and at which level? Five questions
We wrote this questionnaire of 6 questions and 8 outcomes from the rules set out in 2 of our guides and the sources each outcome names. Only the first question is asked on every route, and three outcomes hold the reply until something arrives: proof of identity, a third party's authority, or the fee for further copies. One outcome, a deceased patient's record, runs on days rather than months: 40 days, or 21 for a record made entirely in the last 40 days.
Source: Access to Health Records Act 1990, sections 3 and 5 (legislation.gov.uk, as amended to date); ICO, Right of access: Health information; both read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What should we consider when responding to a request? (Can we ask for ID?; time limits), guidance updated 8 December 2025, read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: How do we recognise a subject access request? (Can a request be made on behalf of someone else?), and Health information (requests from a third party); both read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: How do we recognise a subject access request? (requests for information about children, amended 7 April 2026), read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: When can we consider a SAR to be manifestly unfounded or excessive?, and What should we consider when responding to a request? (Can we charge a fee?), and What exemptions are relevant for SARs? (refusals); UK GDPR, Article 12(4) as amended; all read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What should we consider when responding to a request? (Can we charge a fee?), guidance updated 8 December 2025, read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What should we consider when responding to a request? (Can we extend the time for a response?), guidance updated 8 December 2025, read 2 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What should we consider when responding to a request? (time limits, fees), guidance updated 8 December 2025; ICO, Right of access: Health information; ICO, requests for information about children; all read 2 October 2026; each outcome names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Free tool: A patient has asked for their records: what do we send, by when, and can we charge?
Botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine, so CAP Code rule 12.12 and regulation 284 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 ban advertising it to the public: no product name, no #botox hashtag, no "wrinkle relaxing injections", no before-and-after photos and no offers. A clinic may advertise a consultation for lines and wrinkles, and since 25 May 2022 no advert for a cosmetic intervention may appear where under-18s are 25% or more of the audience.
Source: ASA and CAP advice "Beauty and cosmetics, botulinum toxin products" (updated 29 October 2025); CAP and MHRA Enforcement Notice on advertising Botox and other botulinum toxin injections (published 9 January 2020); CAP Bitesize "Botox and non-surgical cosmetic interventions"; ASA news item on rule 12.25 (25 May 2022); Human Medicines Regulations 2012, regulation 284; Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Act 2021, section 1; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, standard 1.3.3. All read 1 October 2026. Not legal advice; the prescriber or a GDC registrant approves every post.
A single-location dental practice in England with three chairs pays the CQC £846 a year in 2026/27, a fee unchanged for seven years. Each dentist owes the GDC £698 and each dental care professional £108, and the ICO data protection fee is £52 or £78. For a practice with four dentists and seven dental care professionals the total is £4,472 a year, of which £924 is billed to the practice itself.
Source: CQC, "Provider fees payable: dental services" (page last updated 10 June 2024, table headed 2024/25) and "Provider fees payable"; British Dental Association news, 23 December 2025, and BDJ In Practice, 9 February 2026 (CQC fees for 2026-27 unchanged); GDC "Annual retention fee", "Pay by instalments Direct Debit" and "Types of registrants" pages; ICO "Guide to the data protection fee" and its FAQs. All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. The GDC had not published a 2027 fee on that date. Not legal or financial advice.
A physiotherapist pays the HCPC £123.34 a year, collected as £246.68 for each two-year cycle, and a chartered member practising in the UK pays the CSP £470.04 in 2026 and £480.84 from 1 January 2027. A clinic of three chartered physiotherapists with a £52 ICO fee pays £1,832.14 in 2026 and £1,864.54 in 2027, and a standalone physiotherapy service does not register with the CQC for treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
Source: HCPC "Paying renewal fees" (page updated 9 September 2026), "Your renewal fee payments", "Changes to our registration fees", "When to renew", "What happens if I don't renew", "Professional indemnity" and the news item "HCPC fee consultation 2026" (28 April 2026); CSP "2027 membership rates" (last reviewed 29 September 2026), "Join as a chartered member" (2026 rates) and the news item of 30 September 2026; ICO "Data protection fee"; CQC scope of registration guidance, "Treatment of disease, disorder or injury" (page last updated 27 August 2026). All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal or financial advice.
A dentist renews with the GDC by 31 December 2026 by paying £698 and declaring indemnity, and makes the CPD statement for 2026 by 28 January 2027. Quarterly direct debit (four payments of £174.50) has to be set up by midnight on 31 October 2026. A dentist who is removed applies for restoration, which the GDC aims to assess within 15 working days of a complete application.
Source: GDC "Annual renewal and fees", "Annual retention fee", "Pay by instalments Direct Debit", "Restoration fee", "Restoring your name to the register", "Annual renewal on MyGDC", "Indemnity guidance", "CPD for dental professionals" and "Recording and submitting CPD". All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. The GDC had not published the fee due on 31 December 2027 or a 2027 restoration fee table on that date. Not legal advice; each dentist is responsible for their own renewal.
Health data needs two lawful footings, not one: an Article 6 basis and a separate Article 9 condition, which for a practice is normally the provision of health care (9(2)(h)); and the ICO's DPIA triggers include both innovative technology and special category data, so an AI tool reading patient records needs a DPIA before the first record is processed, whatever the vendor says about its own compliance.
Source: ICO guidance on lawful basis and special category data, and on data protection impact assessments (triggers include innovative technology and special category data), as recorded in data/sectors/clinics.json; Dentally pricing page (AI clinical-note transcription on higher tiers); GDPUK and Attainment Labs on AI adoption (32% of 300 dentists use AI daily, mostly radiographs; no UK admin-AI benchmark); read 2026-10-01. Not legal advice; the practice's information governance lead owns the DPIA.
Every CQC dental inspection in the last decade has asked the front desk for the same files whatever the framework called them: the complaints log and responses, the recall and overdue records, the appointment and FTA records, consent and treatment plan records, safeguarding and DBS records, the significant events log, and staff training records; the 2026 framework change renames the questions and does not change the files.
Source: Agilio, "The CQC is rewriting the framework" (June 2026: consultation closed 12 June 2026, pilots to October, live end of 2026, dental's non-rated status not addressed); CQC guidance for dental providers and dental mythbusters; CQC Regulation 16 (complaints), 17 (good governance), 19 (fit and proper persons); read 2026-10-01. Not legal advice; the registered manager owns the practice's compliance.
On 1 October 2026 the Disclosure and Barring Service charged £49.50 for an enhanced check, with or without barred lists, £21.50 for a standard or basic check and £16 a year for the Update Service. The CQC says there is no requirement to repeat checks for staff who stay in the same job, so re-checking 11 clinical staff every three years (£544.50 a round, £181.50 a year) is the practice's own policy; the Update Service for the same 11 costs £176 a year.
Source: GOV.UK, "DBS checks: guidance for employers" (last updated 11 September 2026), "Request a basic DBS check", "DBS Update Service" and "DBS Update Service: employer guide"; Care Quality Commission, "Dental mythbuster 19: Staff recruitment" (page last updated 2 October 2023) and "DBS checks for CQC registration" (page last updated 19 December 2025); Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 19 and Schedule 3. All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal advice.
We wrote ten questions from the rules set out in 10 of our guides; for 4 of the ten the answer that is in order is "no", so the check cannot be passed by ticking yes. The first asks: Do you acknowledge every complaint within three working days and send your complaints procedure with the acknowledgement? The NHS complaints regulations fix the acknowledgement at three working days. The GDC requires the practice to give the patient its procedure when it acknowledges the complaint, and to respond within the time limits it wrote itself.
Source: NHS Complaints Regulations 2009; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 5; NHS website; NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-01765; Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4; ICO guidance on DPIAs and special category data; NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-01913; GDS Contracts Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 32; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, 1.7, 2.3 and 2.4; CAP Code rule 12.12; Human Medicines Regulations 2012, regulation 284; NHS England contractual guidance (updated 29 July 2026), sections 3.4 and 3.9; GDC, Annual retention fee page, read 1 October 2026; each rule is set out with its source in the guide the question links to. The test record is in tests/readiness/tools-check.txt.
NHS dental practices in England keep clinical care records for 11 years and finance records for two, on the NHS Business Services Authority's published answer, while the contract regulations require only two years from the end of a course of treatment. A patient's request to delete a record must be answered within one month, and the right to erasure does not apply to records needed to provide health care or to defend a legal claim.
Source: NHS Business Services Authority knowledge base article KA-01913, "How long should NHS dental practices keep patient records for?"; National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 32; ICO guidance on storage limitation, the right to erasure and subject access. All read 1 October 2026. The NHS Records Management Code of Practice page would not load on that date and is cited only through the NHSBSA answer. Not legal advice; the practice's information governance lead owns the retention policy; UK GDPR Article 12(4) as amended, read on legislation.gov.uk 2026-10-02.
We wrote this list of 23 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 5 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Every deadline for the copy in these 23 steps is counted from the day the request arrives: one month for the copy, and the same month to tell the patient about a two-month extension. Three steps can move it: waiting for proof of identity, a pause for clarification, and a due date that falls on a weekend or public holiday.
Source: ICO, Right of access: How do we recognise a subject access request?, read 1 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What should we consider when responding to a request?, read 1 October 2026; NHS Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, regulation 13(3); ICO guidance on the right of access; Dental Complaints Service; ICO, Right of access, read 1 October 2026; GDS Contracts Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 32; ICO guidance on controllers and processors; ICO, Right of access: Health information, read 1 October 2026; Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 3; ICO, Right of access: information about other people, and Health information, read 1 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: Can we charge a fee?, read 1 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: How can we supply information to the requester?, read 1 October 2026; ICO, Right of access: What exemptions are relevant?, read 1 October 2026; Our records retention guide; ICO guidance on the right of access; NHS Business Services Authority knowledge base article KA-01913; ICO guidance on the right to erasure; CQC Regulation 17; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
Running the practice
Six common requests sorted against the GOV.UK wording gave 3 that qualify (child ill at school, a parent taken ill, a childminder who cannot attend), 1 that depends (a repeat absence for the same illness) and 2 that do not (a booked hospital appointment, a school play known weeks ahead); for a nurse on 37.5 hours (7.5 a day) a two-day child illness is 15 hours of cover, five such episodes a year are 10 days or 75 hours, which is two full working weeks (we did the sorting and the hours for one invented nurse).
Source: GOV.UK, "Time off for dependants" (gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants) and its page "What counts as an emergency", read 30 October 2026.
For a nurse on 37.5 hours, 4 weeks is 150 hours and 18 weeks is 675 hours; at 4 weeks a year one child takes at least 5 leave years (4+4+4+4+2) and two children 36 weeks (1,350 hours) at least 9; a request made on Monday 2 November 2026 can start on Monday 23 November at the earliest, needs a written reply by Monday 9 November if the practice wants to delay, and any delayed start must fall by 23 May 2027 (we calculated the dates and hours for one request).
Source: GOV.UK, Unpaid parental leave: overview, Entitlement, Eligibility, Notice period and Delaying leave (gov.uk/parental-leave and its sub-pages), all read 29 October 2026.
On an invented nine-person rota with a single Tuesday fire briefing, 4 of 9 staff missed it, 10 of the 26 weekly staff-days (38.5%) are worked by someone untrained, and on Friday all 4 people in the building are untrained; one Friday session would reach all four missing staff (we counted five weekdays and nine people).
Source: GOV.UK, Workplace fire safety: your responsibilities (gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities), Fire risk assessments (.../fire-risk-assessments) and Fire safety and evacuation plans (.../fire-safety-and-evacuation-plans), all read 28 October 2026.
For a party with 12 staff and 4 guests (16 attendees), the most the practice can spend is 16 x £150 = £2,400 including VAT and taxis; a £1,860 plan leaves £540 of headroom, but if two guests drop out the same £2,340 plan costs £167.14 a head and fails, because 14 x £150 = £2,100 (we calculated six budgets and two attendance patterns).
Source: GOV.UK, Trivial benefits (gov.uk/expenses-and-benefits-trivial-benefits) and legislation.gov.uk, Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 264 (legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/1/section/264), both read 27 October 2026.
A nurse who finishes at 21:00 cannot start before 08:00 the next day, so a 07:30 start breaks the 11-hour rest by 30 minutes; and over a 17-week average (limit 816 hours), a nurse on 37.5 hours can work at most 10 weeks of 55 hours (812.5 hours, an average of 47.79) but not 11 (830 hours, 48.82) (we calculated five finish times and three overtime patterns).
Source: GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work (gov.uk/rest-breaks-work) and Maximum weekly working hours (gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours), both read 26 October 2026.
A full-time nurse on £12.71 an hour for 37.5 hours (£24,784.50 a year) costs £2,967.68 a year in employer National Insurance at 15% above the £5,000 threshold, so the £10,500 allowance covers three such nurses in full (£8,903.03) and runs out at 3.54 nurses; with eight, the practice pays £13,241.40 after the allowance (we calculated this for six headcounts).
Source: GOV.UK, Employment Allowance (gov.uk/claim-employment-allowance), its eligibility and when-to-claim pages, and Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, all read 24 October 2026.
For a death on Wednesday 6 January 2027, the 8-week and 56-week dates are 3 March 2027 and 2 February 2028. A claim for the week starting Monday 11 January 2027 must be made by 8 February 2027. Pay is £194.32 once weekly earnings reach £215.91 (194.32 / 0.9); at £150 it is £135.00 and at £200 it is £180.00. Two full weeks at the cap are 2 x £194.32 = £388.64. The earnings test of £129 a week over 8 weeks is £1,032 in total.
Source: GOV.UK, "Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave" (https://www.gov.uk/parental-bereavement-pay-leave) and its sub-pages "What you're entitled to", "Check if you're eligible" and "How to claim". They say the leave is 2 weeks per child from the first day of employment, taken together or as two separate weeks or one week, finishing within 56 weeks; pay is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower; pay needs 26 weeks' employment up to the end of the relevant week and average earnings of £129 a week over 8 weeks; notice is before the usual start time on the first day for leave taken in the first 8 weeks and at least one week's notice after that; no proof of the death is needed; pay must be asked for within 28 days. Read 21 October 2026.
For a nurse on 37.5 hours over five days, one week is 37.5 hours. A request on 11 January 2027 needs notice of 3 days for one day (14 January), 4 days for two days (15 January) and 10 days for the whole week (21 January). Covering the full week at an example £15.00 an hour is £562.50; a nurse on three 7.5-hour days has 22.5 hours, £337.50. A nurse who worked 780 hours in the last 12 months has 780 / 52 = 15 hours.
Source: GOV.UK, "Carer's leave" (https://www.gov.uk/carers-leave), the page headed "Unpaid carer's leave". It says the right applies from the first day of work, up to one week every 12 months, a week being the hours usually worked over 7 days, taken as a whole week or as days or half days, notice of 3 days for a day or half day and twice the length for more than one day, no written request needed, no evidence of the dependant's care needs required, and that employers cannot refuse a request but can ask for a different time if the absence would cause serious disruption (new date within one month, reasons in writing within 7 days). Read 20 October 2026.
A request dated 15 January 2027 must be decided by 15 March 2027, which is 59 days. Moving a 37.5-hour week to four 7.5-hour days leaves 7.5 hours a week uncovered, 390 hours over 52 weeks, and at an example cover rate of £15.00 an hour that is £5,850 a year. With requests on 15 January and 20 June 2027, a third is safe from 16 January 2028.
Source: GOV.UK, "Flexible working" (all employees can ask from their first day), "Applying for flexible working" (2 applications in any 12-month period; the letter or email must give the date, state that it is a statutory request, give the change wanted and start date, and say whether and when a previous application was made) and "After the application" (decision within 2 months or longer if agreed; the employer must discuss the request before refusing and tell the employee of a refusal; the eight business reasons for refusal). A web search summary of the Acas guidance said only one request can be live at a time and that the two months includes any appeal; I did not read that on the Acas page itself. Read 19 October 2026.
For a full-time nurse on the 2026/27 minimum wage of £12.71 for 37.5 hours (£476.63 a week), the statutory minimum notice costs £476.63 at 1 year, £1,429.88 at 3 years, £2,383.13 at 5 years, £3,813.00 at 8 years and £5,719.50 at both 12 and 15 years, because the minimum stops at 12 weeks (we calculated this for six lengths of service).
Source: GOV.UK, Redundancy: notice periods, read 16 October 2026.
A full-time dental nurse on £12.71 an hour for 37.5 hours earns £476.63 a week, so Statutory Paternity Pay is the £194.32 flat rate, £388.64 for two weeks. A practice that qualifies for Small Employers' Relief reclaims 109%, £423.62, which is £34.98 more than it paid; a larger practice reclaims 92%, £357.55, and carries £31.09. A part-time nurse on 16 hours (£203.36 a week) gets 90%, £183.02 a week.
Source: GOV.UK, Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave: employer guide (1 or 2 weeks, £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, leave to finish within 52 weeks) and its Eligibility page (leave from the first day of employment; pay needs 26 weeks' service and £129 a week); GOV.UK, Recover statutory payments (92%, or 109% with Small Employers' Relief where Class 1 National Insurance was £45,000 or less). All read 7 October 2026.
Of the eight 2026 bank holidays on GOV.UK, five fall on a Monday (6 April, 4 May, 25 May, 31 August, 28 December), two on a Friday (3 April, 25 December) and one on a Thursday (1 January); a 3-day worker is owed 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days, so if the practice closes on those days and counts them as leave, a Monday-to-Wednesday worker has 16.8 - 5 = 11.8 days left, a Tuesday-to-Thursday worker 16.8 - 1 = 15.8, a Wednesday-to-Friday worker 16.8 - 3 = 13.8, and a full-time 5-day worker 28 - 8 = 20 (we counted the weekdays ourselves from the dates).
Source: GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement: how much leave you're entitled to, and GOV.UK, UK bank holidays (England and Wales 2026 list), both read 6 October 2026. We could not confirm from the primary pages how holiday pay is worked out for irregular hours or part-year staff, so the guide does not give a pay rate or an accrual percentage.
SSP is the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of normal weekly earnings, so at £12.71 an hour the £123.25 figure is the cap for anyone earning £154.06 a week or more (£123.25 / 0.8), which is 12.12 hours a week; a 12-hour receptionist (£152.52 a week) gets £122.02, an 8-hour one (£101.68) gets £81.34, and 16, 20 and 37.5 hours all get the full £123.25; one week of sickness across two full-time nurses, a 20-hour, a 16-hour and a 12-hour member of staff costs £615.02 in SSP, against £1,563.34 of normal pay for the week (we calculated this for 8, 12, 16, 20 and 37.5 hours).
Source: GOV.UK, Statutory Sick Pay (overview), What you'll get and Eligibility, read 6 October 2026. We could not open the Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement provisions or the GOV.UK rates page for employers (it returned an error), so the date of the removal of waiting days and of the lower earnings limit is taken from trade summaries and is not confirmed by us from the primary source.
We worked two cases from HMRC's rules at the 20% standard rate. A toothbrush sold at the desk for £4.80 carries £0.80 of VAT, so 1,000 sold in a year is £4,800 of takings of which £800 is VAT owed to HMRC. A practice that makes only exempt supplies and buys £12,000 of equipment plus £2,400 VAT pays £14,400, and HMRC's notice says it "cannot normally deduct input tax that relates to your exempt supplies", so the £2,400 stays a cost.
Source: HMRC, "Health professionals and pharmaceutical products (VAT Notice 701/57)" on GOV.UK, page updated 13 August 2026, dentists section and section 8 (input tax and partial exemption), read 2026-10-06; it points to VAT Notice 706 (partial exemption) and VAT Notice 700/1 (registration), which we did not read in full. General information, not tax advice.
We took a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks and applied the April 2026 rates and the 2026-27 employer National Insurance terms (15% above £5,000 a year). At £12.71 an hour a post costs £24,784.50 in pay and £2,967.68 in employer NICs, £27,752.18 in all. That is £1,121.25 a year more than at the April 2025 rate of £12.21 (£26,630.93). A first-year apprentice at £8.00 costs £17,190.00, which is £10,562.18 a year less than the adult rate.
Source: GOV.UK, "National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates" (rates from 1 April 2026 and 1 April 2025) and "Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027" (employer Class 1 National Insurance, secondary threshold, Employment Allowance). All read on 5 October 2026. Not legal advice; the figures are legal minimums, not what a practice should pay.
At the £12.71 National Living Wage, the £10,000 trigger is reached at 15.1 hours a week over 52 weeks, so a 15-hour receptionist (£9,913.80) is below it and a 16-hour one (£10,574.72) is in; the 3% employer contribution on pay between £6,240 and £50,270 is £130.04 a year at 16 hours, £209.35 at 20 hours and £556.34 at 37.5 hours, which makes £1,452.07 a year for a team of two full-time nurses, a 20-hour and a 16-hour receptionist (we calculated this for 12, 15, 16, 20, 25 and 37.5 hours).
Source: GOV.UK, Workplace pensions for employers and Who you need to enrol, read 5 October 2026; GOV.UK, Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay, read 5 October 2026; GOV.UK, Joining a workplace pension, read 5 October 2026; HM Government 2026/27 automatic enrolment thresholds frozen at £10,000, £6,240 and £50,270 as reported by trade bodies, with the DWP written statement of 18 December 2025 (HCWS1206) not opened by us.
We applied the GDC's rule to eight example start dates. A trainee who started on 1 October 2024 had to start a recognised course by 1 October 2026; anyone who started between 1 June 2025 and 1 June 2026 has the same deadline, 1 June 2027; a trainee who starts on 3 October 2026 has until 3 October 2027. On qualifying, a dental nurse who registers in October pays the GDC £90, and the fee falls by £9 a month to £9 in July.
Source: General Dental Council, "Trainee dental nurses to start formal training sooner under new GDC requirements" (news, 12 February 2026), "Guidance for employers of trainees/students", "Clarification on trainee dental nurses and registration" (news, 2 August 2023), "Registration fee" (2026/27 dental care professional table) and "GDC announces Annual Retention Fee for 2026" (31 October 2025). All read on 3 October 2026. Not legal advice.
On the example hours for a small practice (31 office hours a week, 16 of them on six jobs a tool can prepare, a quarter of each kept for checking), 12 hours a week could be handed over: 39% of the total, costing £8,280 a year at £15 an hour over 46 weeks.
Source: Arithmetic on the hours entered; the checking share is our stated assumption and can be changed. Rules behind what stays with staff: UK GDPR, articles 9 and 35; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, principle 4 (confidentiality)
On 1 October 2026 a standard seat cost £15 a month on ChatGPT Business and £18 including VAT on Claude Team, both billed annually; the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on cost £13.80 before VAT on a first-year offer and Google Workspace Business Standard £11.80 before tax. All four vendors say business-plan content is not used to train their models by default. The health-data terms they publish are written for US law: OpenAI's agreement bars protected health information unless a healthcare addendum is signed, and Anthropic's health-data agreement names its Enterprise plan and API, so patient details stay out of the prompt.
Source: chatgpt.com/pricing, OpenAI "Enterprise privacy" (updated 8 January 2026) and OpenAI Services Agreement (effective 1 January 2026); claude.com/pricing, Anthropic Commercial Terms of Service (effective 17 June 2025) and Anthropic privacy centre, "Business Associate Agreements (BAA) for Commercial Customers"; Microsoft UK Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing page and Microsoft Learn, "Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot" (updated 18 August 2026); workspace.google.com UK pricing and "Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub" (updated 14 August 2026); CQC, "GP mythbuster 109: Use of artificial intelligence (AI) in GP services" (14 July 2025) and its dental mythbusters list; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, standard 4.2; ICO, "Guidance on AI and data protection". All read in a browser on 1 October 2026. Not legal advice.
On 1 October 2026 two of the five suppliers we checked showed a sterling price a practice could read before a sales call: Dentally at £265, £380 and £510 a month plus VAT for three surgeries (£125, £220 and £320 for one), and Cliniko by practitioner count (£59 a month for two to five, £89 for six to eight); Software of Excellence (Exact), CareStack and Pabau publish no UK price, and CareStack's US page starts at US$829 a month.
Source: Dentally pricing page (read in a browser 2026-10-01: one surgery Starter £125, Essentials £220, Pro £320; three surgeries £265, £380, £510; ex VAT, scaling by surgery up to eight, nine or more by quote); Cliniko pricing page (UK version read in a browser 2026-10-01: £29 a month for one practitioner, £59 for two to five, £89 for six to eight, £129 for nine to twelve; the page does not mention VAT); Pabau pricing page (tiers, no sterling figures); CareStack US pricing as reported by Capterra and comparison sites (US$829 Essentials, US$1,299 Intelligence); Software of Excellence Exact: quote only; Capterra UK Dentally rating 3.6 of 5 from 18 reviews. Desk check only; check the live pages before deciding.
A dental contractor in England can end a GDS contract by written notice to NHS England at any time. The contract ends three months after the notice is served, moved to the last calendar day of that month, so notice served on 12 October 2026 ends the contract on 31 January 2027, and notice served on any day in December 2026 ends it on 31 March 2027.
Source: National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraphs 60, 64 and 66; National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 64; GDC Standards for the Dental Team, standards 1.7.2 to 1.7.4. All read 1 October 2026 on legislation.gov.uk and the GDC standards site. Not legal advice; the contract holder signs the notice and takes advice on their own contract before serving it.
A three-surgery practice with £310,000 of running costs, open 37.5 hours a week for 48 weeks, has 5,400 surgery hours a year at £57.41 each. With 80% booked and the clinician keeping 45% of the fee, a booked hour must bring in £130.47 to break even, and a 30-minute appointment £65.24. At 85% booked the figure falls to £122.80.
Source: Our own arithmetic, shown in full on the page and checked by hand. No fee guidance is implied. The test record is in tests/chairside/tools-check.txt.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.