Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

United Kingdom Edition July 2014 19Business I ’m often contacted by NHS dentists who have queries about the terms of their NHS contract. Very often the contract was signed a number of years ago and only now that the contract holder wants to sell their practice or incorporate do they have cause to examine the terms of the contract. One of the most common examples we see is where a practice owner has previously incorporated their NHS contract into a limited company with the consent of the NHS. Whilst the approach taken by the NHS Area Teams to incorporation requests is nowadays uniformly uncoop- erative, this was not always the case and back in the days of the PCTs, there were many exam- ples of certain PCTs being happy to permit incorporation without opposition. Those days sadly are now behind us. If you did manage to incor- porate your practice or if for any other reason you trade through a limited company, you will at that time have been issued with an NHS contract in the name of your limited company. Was that proposed new contract ever re- viewed by a solicitor at the time you entered into it? If not then you may find that your NHS contract had a clause inserted called a “change of control” clause. The effect of a change of control clause is to restrict your ability to transfer the shares in your company to a third party on a sale. These clauses were often slipped into the contracts with- out being brought to the atten- tion of the contract holder and unless specialist advice was sought at the time, they can be a nasty surprise once discovered. They are normally discovered at the point when a contract holder is looking to sell the shares in their company and the solicitors have examined the NHS contract and found the clause. If you do find yourself with an NHS contract that contains a Change of control clause? Don’t Thomas Coates discusses what to do if your NHS contract has a ‘change of control’ clause ‘The effect of a change of control clause is to restrict your ability to transfer the shares in your company to a third party on a sale’ page 20DTà panic! The LCF Dental Team understands dentists; understands dental practices; understands the regulations. “We talk your language. We are great listeners and really understand your situation.” says LCF Law partner, Thomas Coates. The team advises dentists and dental practice owners throughout England and Wales on specialist legal issues including: • Practice Sales and Purchases • Dental Employment and HR Servies • CQC • GDC and Regulatory Issues • NHS Disputes Contact Thomas Coates or Sarah Buxton today to ﬁnd out how they can help you and to request a no obligation telephone consultation or practice visit. THOMAS COATES T. 0113 244 0876 E. tcoates@lcf.co.uk 2 The Embankment, Sovereign Street, Leeds LS1 4BP SARAH BUXTON T. 0113 244 0876 E. sbuxton@lcf.co.uk LCF_Tribune_Ad_210x297_AW copy.pdf 2 03/06/2014 12:01

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

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