Going private as a dental practice in England: the three-month NHS contract notice, the date it really ends, and the letter to patients

A dental practice in England can hand back its NHS contract with three months' written notice, and the contract then ends on the last day of a calendar month. Depending on the day the notice is served, the real run-off is anywhere from three months to almost four.

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Going private patient letter maker for a dental practice

Fill in the date the NHS contract ends and who signs. The letter tells an NHS patient what changes on that date, what stays the same until then, and how to stay with an NHS dentist.

Which letterOpen courses will be finished on the NHS before the end dateThe dentist will contact patients who have an open course Practice name, address and phoneHarbour Dental Practice, 12 Quay Street, Whitby YO21 1AA 01632 960000 Patient's name Date the NHS contract endsThree months after the notice was served, moved to the last day of that month. Notice served on 12 October 2026 ends the contract on 31 January 2027. What is enclosed about private feesOne full sentence. Leave out the plan if you do not have one. Name of the dentist signing Dentist's GDC number

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• Send it only after the notice has been served and you have agreed in writing with the commissioner how open courses of treatment will be finished.
• Check the end date against your own contract: it is the last calendar day of a month.
• Enclose the private fee list, and brief the front desk the same day so the phone answer matches the letter.
• The letter sets no deadline for joining a plan and makes no comment on NHS care. Keep it that way if you edit it.

The rule this rests on: GDS Contracts Regulations 2005, Schedule 3, paragraph 66 (three months' notice, ending on the last calendar day of a month); GDC Standards for the Dental Team, standards 1.7.2 to 1.7.4. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice. Regulated work: a GDC-registered professional or the practice manager reviews every patient-facing draft before it is sent; nothing here is clinical advice and the AI assistant writes nothing clinical.

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The notice rule

For a General Dental Services contract the rule is in Schedule 3, paragraph 66 of the 2005 contract regulations. The contractor "may terminate the contract by serving notice in writing on NHS England at any time". The contract then ends "on a date three months after the date on which the notice is served", with one adjustment: "if the termination date is not the last calendar day of a month, the contract shall instead terminate on the last calendar day of the month in which the termination date falls."

A Personal Dental Services agreement has the same rule, at paragraph 64 of Schedule 3 to its own 2005 regulations.

No reason is needed. Send the notice to the address for notices in your own contract, by a method that proves the date.

Working out the end date

Both October notices end on the same day, because the end date is pushed to the month end. A notice served on the 1st of a month gives almost four months. A notice served on the last day gives three.

To finish at the end of the NHS financial year, 31 March 2027, the notice has to be served in December 2026. A notice served on 4 January 2027 runs to 30 April 2027, one month into a new contract year.

Full exit, agreed exit or a smaller contract

Notice under paragraph 66 ends the whole contract. The regulations give two other routes.

• Termination by agreement (paragraph 64). NHS England and the contractor "may agree in writing to terminate the contract", on a date and terms they both accept. Use it for a date that is not a month end.
• Variation (paragraph 60). A change to the contract has no effect "unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of" both sides. A practice that wants to keep a smaller NHS contract, for children for example, is asking for a variation. NHS England has to agree to it, and it can say no.

Only the full notice is entirely in the owner's hands. A partial conversion is a negotiation, to be finished in writing before patients are told.

What the GDC expects you to tell patients

Three standards apply during and after the change.

• 1.7.2: a mixed practice "must make clear to your patients which treatments can be provided under the NHS" and which only privately.
• 1.7.3: "You must not mislead patients into believing that treatments which are available on the NHS" can only be provided privately. A purely private practice "should make sure that patients know this before they attend for treatment".
• 1.7.4: a mixed practice "must not pressurise patients into having private treatment" that is available to them on the NHS.

Until the end date, NHS patients are booked and charged as NHS patients. After it, nobody should arrive believing the appointment is an NHS one.

The steps in order

1. Read the termination and notices clauses in your own contract, and take advice on them.
2. Choose the end date, then work back to the month in which notice must be served.
3. Before serving notice, ask in writing how the final year's activity and payments will be reconciled.
4. Serve the notice and keep proof of the date.
5. Agree in writing how courses of treatment that are open on the end date will be finished.
6. Write to every NHS patient, and brief the front desk the same day so the phone answer matches the letter.
7. Set up the private fee list, any membership plan and the private policies before the end date.
8. On the end date, change the website, booking confirmations and answerphone so nothing describes the practice as NHS.

The letter to patients

Dear [name],

From [end date] this practice will no longer provide NHS dental care. Until that date nothing changes: your NHS appointments and NHS charges continue as now.

If you are part-way through a course of NHS treatment, [we will complete it on the NHS before that date / your dentist will contact you about how it will be completed].

From [end date] we will see patients privately. Our fees are enclosed, with details of our monthly plan. You do not need to decide now, and you do not need to do anything to stay on our list.

If you would prefer to stay with an NHS dentist, you can search for practices taking NHS patients with the "Find a dentist" service on the NHS website. If you ask, we will send a copy of your records to you or to your new practice.

[Name of the dentist, GDC number]

The letter sets no deadline for joining a plan and makes no comment on NHS care.

What we could not confirm

We did not find a regulation that sets a minimum notice period to patients, or one that says how open courses of treatment are handled when a contractor gives notice. Settle both in writing with the commissioner (steps 3 and 5). Year-end reconciliation figures depend on the individual contract, so we give none.

After the switch

A missed-appointment charge becomes possible for the first time, on the three conditions in the private cancellation policy template; none can be made for a missed NHS appointment. Unresolved private complaints go to the Dental Complaints Service, as the complaints procedure guide sets out. The NHS records stay for their full period, covered in the records retention guide.

In the practice

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant that drafts patient letters and booking messages for a person to approve. A GDC-registered professional or the practice manager reviews anything a tool drafts before it reaches a patient. This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.