Publication, Part of Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates
Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates 2019/20
Annex A
Further Expenses Analysis for England, Wales and Scotland Provided by Accounting Bodies
The 38th Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) Report – released on 31 March 2009 – requested detailed information on five different categories of dental expenses in order to provide further evidence in support of subsequent reviews and decisions regarding dental remuneration.
The five categories of dental expenses requested by DDRB are:
- staff costs
- laboratory costs
- material costs
- other non-staffing costs.
- premises costs
This level of detail is not recorded on the Self Assessment tax returns used to produce the results in the main report, nor is it widely available from other data sources. However, expenditure data on these four categories for England and Wales have been provided by the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants and Lawyers (NASDAL) .
NASDAL is a grouping of firms of accountants and lawyers, each of which specialises to some degree in acting for dentists. Formed in 1998, its members meet regularly to discuss tax, accounting, legal and business issues relating to dental practices. NASDAL collates a detailed survey each year of various statistics and key operating ratios relating to dental practices.
The dental expenses data included in this Annex are presented for the years 2017/18 to 2019/20. These periods represent the financial years in which accounts ended; almost all of the accounts represented by these results will have ended in the fourth quarter of the respective financial year.
The data are also presented by practice type: NHS practices (those with at least 80 per cent NHS activity) and private practices (those with at least 80 per cent private activity).
Data on non-clinical staff wages, laboratory costs, materials costs and premises costs have been provided by NASDAL. All data are presented as a percentage of gross income.
Definitions
Non-Clinical Staff Wages refer to the gross wages (including employer’s National Insurance contributions) paid to all practice staff, including office staff and nurses, but excluding employed and self-employed dentists, hygienists, and therapists.
Laboratory Costs refer to dental laboratory work commissioned by dental practices.
Materials Costs refer to dental surgery consumables such as filling material costs and dental surgery consumables.
Premises costs refer to insurance, repairs and maintenance (of the premises) as well as rent, rates, water, heating and lighting costs, but exclude any borrowing costs if the premises are freehold.
It is important to note that because of differences in categories of analysis, NASDAL data is not necessarily directly comparable with expenses data presented in the main body of the report, particularly in the Detailed Expenses Breakdown section. More information on comparisons is given in Table A.2.
This is the first year separate England and Wales results have been published. It is also important to note that this is the first time that results for Scotland are also included in this publication. Figures in this report are therefore not comparable with previously published figures.
Table A.1 compares the methodologies employed in the collection and handling of the data presented in the main body of the report and this Annex.
| NASDAL Providing-Performer Survey Data | Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates Data | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Data Collection |
Survey of member firms’ clients | HMRC analysis of anonymised Self Assessment tax data | |
| Sampling Frame and Sample Size | NASDAL clients; sample size approximately 1,200 |
|
|
| Geographical Coverage | At least 99% of the data are for England, Wales and Scotland separately | England, Wales and Scotland separately | |
| Representation of Dental Population | Sample contains contracts held by firms of varying size, from small single-Providing-Performer2 practices to large multi-dentist practices, both unincorporated and incorporated practices are included; no weighting | Results weighted up to the dental report population | |
| Levels of Analysis | Providing-Performers2 | Dentists (Providing-Performer/Principal and Associate) | |
| Outliers | Bottom-end (gross income) outliers excluded, usually due to part-time practices, errors, or incomplete forms | Excluded during HMRC analysis based on very high or very low expenses to earnings ratios | |
| Part-time Practices | Excluded from dataset | Not excluded from dataset |
Notes:
1. Excluding dentists with no self-employment gross income and those working solely under a Trust-led Dental Services (TDS) contract.
2. Providing-Performers/Principal are those dentists who hold a contract or contracts with local health authorities to provide an agreed level of dental services, as well as dentists who perform only private dentistry (and therefore do not hold contracts with a local health authority) A contract holder can be one individual or a group of individuals, and data for a contract holder constitutes data for that particular practice
Comparisons with expenses breakdown in the main report
As stated, NASDAL data are not necessarily comparable with data presented in the main body of the report – particularly the detailed expenses section, which presents an expenses breakdown according to the categories used on HMRC’s Self Assessment tax return. This is not an issue of data quality, but rather different methods of reporting the data, particularly in terms of the dentists considered and the expenses categories employed.
NASDAL data presented for NHS practices relate to Principals, who are individuals or groups of individuals; in comparison, data in the main report relate to individual self-employed primary care Providing-Performer/Principal and Associate dentists. The closest comparison that can be made in terms of dental type is between contract holders (NASDAL) and Providing-Performers/Principals (main report).
In addition, the NASDAL categories of expenses and the main report expenses categories do not necessarily map onto each other, making comparisons between the two difficult. Table A.2 shows the mapping between the NASDAL expenses category, and those found on the Self Assessment tax return.
|
Expenses Category |
Comparability to HMRC Expenses Categories |
|---|---|
|
Non-Clinical Staff Wages (NASDAL) |
Broadly comparable to the Employee expenses category. However, it is thought that a small number of Providing-Performer Self Assessment tax returns include the cost of Associate dentists within this category; NASDAL Non-Clinical Staff Wages data do not include the cost of Associate dentists to dental practices |
|
Laboratory Costs (NASDAL) and Materials Costs (NASDAL) |
These costs are contained within the Other expenses category on the Self Assessment tax return. However, also included in the Other category are some costs to Providing-Performers of Associate dentists performing dentistry under the former’s contract. Depreciation costs cannot be disaggregated from the Other Non-Staffing Costs category (as provided by Morris & Co), nor can the costs of Associate to Providing-Performer dentists. It is therefore not possible to make comparisons between Laboratory Costs and Materials Costs as provided by NASDAL, and the Other expenses category. |
|
Premises Costs (NASDAL) |
These costs are contained within the premises costs category on the Self Assessment tax return. In order to obtain consistency with data capture the tax return categories are used to calculate premises costs. |
NASDAL expenses data
Table A.3.1-3.3 shows Non-Clinical Staffing Costs, Materials Costs, Laboratory Costs, premises costs (as provided by NASDAL) as a percentage of gross income (before any deductions) for the years 2017/18 to 2019/20
England
Table A.3.1a: Non-Clinical Staffing Costs, Laboratory Costs, Materials Costs and Premises, as a percentage of gross income (before any deductions), by practice type, England 2017/18 to 2020/21
| Practice Type 1 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
| Non-Clinical Staff Wages (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 20.9% | 20.9% | 20.6% | |
| Private Practices | 17.9% | 17.9% | 18.5% | |
| Laboratory Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 5.6% | 5.4% | 5.7% | |
| Private Practices | 6.8% | 7.0% | 6.6% | |
| Materials Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 6.1% | 6.2% | 6.2% | |
| Private Practices | 7.4% | 7.9% | 7.5% | |
| Premises Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 3.5% | 3.8% | 4.2% | |
| Private Practices | 4.4% | 3.9% | 4.6% | |
Notes: 1. NHS Practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent NHS dental activity; private practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent private dental activity.
Table A.3.1b: NASDAL sample size by practice type, England 2017/18 to 2020/21
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
| NHS Practices | 86 | 84 | 71 |
| Private Practices | 181 | 216 | 172 |
Wales
Table A.3.2a: Non-Clinical Staffing Costs, Laboratory Costs, Materials Costs and Premises, as a percentage of gross income (before any deductions), by practice type, Wales 2017/18 to 2020/21
| Practice Type 1 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
| Non-Clinical Staff Wages (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 21.0% | 24.0% | 25.8% | |
| Private Practices | 16.4% | 16.5% | 22.2% | |
| Laboratory Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 6.4% | 5.8% | 5.6% | |
| Private Practices | 7.0% | 6.9% | 7.8% | |
| Materials Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 5.9% | 6.3% | 6.5% | |
| Private Practices | 9.3% | 7.0% | 6.9% | |
| Premises Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 3.3% | 2.4% | 2.6% | |
| Private Practices | 3.7% | 2.3% | 2.7% | |
Notes: 1. NHS Practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent NHS dental activity; private practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent private dental activity.
Table A.3.2b: NASDAL sample size by practice type, Wales 2017/18 to 2020/21
| Practice Type 1 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 |
| NHS Practices | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Private Practices | 8 | 13 | 13 |
Scotland
Table A.3.3a: Non-Clinical Staffing Costs, Laboratory Costs, Materials Costs and Premises, as a percentage of gross income (before any deductions), by practice type, Scotland 2017/18 to 2020/21
| Practice Type 1 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
| Non-Clinical Staff Wages (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 20.8% | 23.4% | 22.6% | |
| Private Practices | 19.9% | 18.4% | 19.3% | |
| Laboratory Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 6.7% | 7.2% | 6.9% | |
| Private Practices | 7.2% | 8.1% | 7.8% | |
| Materials Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 7.3% | 7.2% | 7.3% | |
| Private Practices | 6.7% | 10.0% | 11.1% | |
| Premises Costs (Source: NASDAL) | ||||
| NHS Practices | 4.6% | 4.3% | 4.7% | |
| Private Practices | 3.0% | 2.6% | 2.5% | |
Notes: 1. NHS Practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent NHS dental activity; private practices are practices that perform at least 80 per cent private dental activity.
Table A.3.3b: NASDAL sample size by practice type, Scotland 2017/18 to 2020/21
| 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
| NHS Practices | 24 | 35 | 30 |
| Private Practices | 7 | 10 | 8 |
Last edited: 22 August 2023 1:11 pm