Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No.3, 2017

DENTAL TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Newspaper · United Kingdom Edition Published in London www.dental-tribune.co.uk INTERVIEW iData’s Jeff Wong explains what is currently shaping the dental in- dustry and how competitors have reacted to these trends. WHAT WOULD DR MO LAR DO? In the second article of this series, the 4dentists group will be look- ing at the ﬁ nancial and legal as- pects of becoming an associate. Vol. 11, No. 3 SHOW TRIBUNE The Dentistry Show and Dental Technology Showcase will be held for the tenth time this year for all members of the profession. ” Page 8 ” Page 9 ” Page 19 Public satisfaction with NHS dental services at 20-year high British Social Attitudes survey sees less discontent with public care Overall, 63 per cent of those surveyed said they were satisﬁ ed with how the NHS is run today. The British Dental Association hailed the results, saying that den- tists should take real pride in what they have achieved despite gov- ernment indifference, sustained underfunding and the barriers presented by the target-driven 2006 contract that still remains in place. “It’s a miracle NHS dentists have been able to overcome all the hurdles placed in front of us to do right by our patients. It shows what might be possible if this ‘Cinderella Service’ received ap- propriate priority,” commented BDA Principal Executive Commit- tee Chair Mick Armstrong. “This profession can take pride in the fact that public satisfaction in NHS dentistry has hit a near 20-year high in spite of chronic underfunding and discredited contracts.” The British Social Attitudes survey has been conducted among members of the British public since 1983. The latest survey was carried out between July and Oc- tober 2016 and asked a nationally representative sample of nearly 3,000 people about their satisfac- tion with the NHS overall, as well as nearly 1,000 people about their satisfaction with individual NHS services. AD By DTI LONDON, UK: People’s satisfac- tion with dental care provided by the National Health Service (NHS) has risen further in recent years, as shown in the latest British So- cial Attitudes survey conducted by the National Centre for Social Research in London. According to the ﬁ gures, only less than one in ﬁ ve patients were discontent with the dentistry services last year. The numbers reﬂ ect some of the highest levels of public satis- faction with these services since the early 1990s and are a dramatic improvement over ﬁ gures in the early 2000s, which saw dissatis- © Pressmaster/Shutterstock.com Satisfaction ﬁ gures have dramatically improved over those on the early 2000s. faction rise to almost 38 per cent, the report said. More satisfaction was only observed for general practitioner services, which scored slightly better in the recent survey than dental services. Goodwill decreases owing to uncertainty in practice sales market By DTI fee KESWICK, UK: Despite a drop back in the average of goodwill as a percentage of income, both NHS and mixed practices have continued to attract a signif- icant premium, according to the latest goodwill survey by the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers (NASDAL). Practices sold at an average of 126 per cent of goodwill © Stopped_clock/Shutterstock.com as a percentage of fee income in the last quarter ending 31 January, with NHS practices attracting an even higher rate of 156 per cent, the ﬁ gures demonstrate. With an average of 101 per cent of goodwill as a percentage of fee income, private practices too have remained steady compared with previous quarters. According to Alan Suggett, specialist dental account- ant and partner in UNW who compiles the goodwill survey, the results indicate a greater discrepancy be- tween and deals, but also a higher un- certainty in the market, particularly when myden- tist withdrew from buying new practices in recent months. valuations “There seemed to be a general perception that the corporates, in- cluding mydentist, were buying up every practice across the coun- try,” Suggest said. “Whilst this wasn’t true and mydentist was only responsible for a small per- centage of sales, it does seem that their withdrawal may have led to a more general loss of conﬁ dence.” “With a time lag between valu- ations and deals done, it will be in- teresting to see if the quarters to come will reﬂ ect the optimism of these high valuations when it comes to actually signing on the dotted line,” he added. The goodwill ﬁ gures are col- lated from accountant and lawyer members of NASDAL on a quar- terly basis in order to provide a useful guide to the practice sales market.

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No.3, 2017

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