On 17 November 2009, primary care trusts (PCTs) were notified of the availability of a template, which has been developed as part of the Department’s Dental Access Programme for use in contracting with dental providers for additional national health service primary care dental services. The final version of the template took account of views expressed by the British Dental Association during consultations on its preparation. It is up to individual dental providers to decide if they wish to tender for services provided in accordance with the template. No changes are being imposed on existing providers.
While the template includes quality standards, in line with the recommendations of the Independent Review of NHS Dental Services in England published in June 2009, we will pilot these recommendations carefully before making any substantive proposals to the general dental services contract and the personal dental service contract used in commissioning primary care dental services generally.