Elevate Your Practice: Why the London Living Wage Is a Smart Business Move
To date there is only one dental practice in London with an NHS contract which is an accredited London Living Wage employer.
Paying the London Living Wage isn’t just about doing the right thing—it’s about running a stronger, more resilient practice.
The London Living Wage reflects the actual cost of living, not a minimum threshold. For dental practices in London, adopting it is a practical decision that delivers measurable business results.
What you gain:
Cost reduction
Dental nurse turnover can be expensive compared to retention. Losing staff means temporary cover costs, recruitment and onboarding costs as well as lost productivity. Paying the London Living Wage improves retention of key staff.
A more motivated, productive team
When staff aren’t worrying about making ends meet, they show up more focused, engaged, and committed. The result? Better performance across the board.
Stronger recruitment—and far better retention
In a competitive hiring market, pay matters. Offering the Living Wage positions your practice as an employer of choice, helping you attract skilled people and keep them.
A reputation patients trust
Today’s patients care about values. Paying the Living Wage signals fairness, integrity, and leadership—strengthening your brand and building loyalty.
What it costs
The National Minimum Wage for those aged 21 and over is currently £12.71 per hour. The London Living Wage by comparison is £14.80 per hour. This is a gap of £2.09 per hour.
The roles actually affected in a dental practice are most likely to be dental nurses, receptionist staff, and cleaning contractors.
Beyond the Practice: A Wider Impact
This isn’t just good for your team—it’s good for your community. Evidence links the Living Wage to improved mental health and longer life expectancy. Reducing financial stress doesn’t just benefit your staff—it contributes to a healthier society overall.
What commitment looks like
Adopting the London Living Wage means applying it to all directly employed staff aged 18 and over. It also means putting a clear plan in place to extend this standard to third-party workers—such as cleaners or security—within the appropriate timeframe.
There is a cost attached to accreditation, starting at £100 per year for those with fewer than 10 employees.
In short:
Paying the London Living Wage strengthens your team, enhances your reputation, and supports long-term business performance. It’s not just a pay decision—it’s a strategic one.
To date only one dental practice with an NHS contract is accredited as a London Living Wage employer. Formal accreditation is the step that turns existing pay practice into a durable recruitment and reputational asset
How do I do it:
A dental practice becomes accredited by:
- Paying all staff the London Living Wage
- Planning how to include regular contractors
- Signing a licence with the Living Wage Foundation
- Submitting evidence through an online application
- Getting approved and listed as an accredited employer
Salah Sabet, Head Dental Nurse, Pearly Whites
“When Pearly Whites became a London Living Wage employer, my pay went up by more than 35% within three months. That is a big change for any family, and it was a big change for mine. But what has surprised me is how much it changed things beyond the money. Knowing that your employer has actually chosen to pay you properly, when they did not have to, is a different feeling from just being paid. You walk in differently. You care more. In dental nursing you do not often get that kind of recognition, and it meant a lot to me. I think that showed in my work, because not long after I was promoted to Head Dental Nurse. I am proud of that, and I am proud to work somewhere that treats its team this way.”
The Impact of London Living Wage Accreditation at Pearly Whites
At Pearly Whites, becoming an accredited London Living Wage employer was both a values decision and a commercial one. The results since accreditation have confirmed both, in ways we did not fully anticipate.
Staff retention and satisfaction
The most striking outcome has been workforce stability. Since accreditation, we have seen zero turnover amongst our directly employed staff, an outlier result in an NHS dental environment where nurse turnover is common and expensive. The pay uplift removed a real source of financial strain for our team, and the knock-on effect is visible throughout the practice. When staff feel genuinely valued, it shows up in stronger ownership of patient care, higher standards, and a quality of engagement that patients notice from the moment they walk in.
Patient experience
That stability has flowed directly into patient outcomes. Our most recent patient survey, drawn from over 300 responses, returned a Net Promoter Score of 92 and a Customer Satisfaction Score of 99. These are exceptional figures for any healthcare setting, and we attribute a significant portion of them to the consistency of the team patients encounter at every visit. Continuity of staff builds familiarity, trust, and confidence. Patients notice when the same nurse and receptionist greet them by name six months later, and in a service people are often nervous about receiving, that continuity matters.
Business performance
The commercial case has been equally clear. Recruitment costs have fallen, agency dependency has reduced, and the operational lift that comes from having a settled, experienced team compounds week on week. Engaged, motivated staff create a practice patients want to return to, and recommend to others. That shows up in rebooking rates, in word-of-mouth referrals, and in patients choosing to invest in treatments they might otherwise have put off. Our growth since accreditation has comfortably absorbed the cost of the pay uplift, and then some.
Paying the London Living Wage is not just the right thing to do. It is one of the most commercially sound decisions we have made, and we would encourage any London practice considering accreditation to move forward with confidence.
