The latest guidance from NHS England supporting the implementation of the contractual changes from April are now available.
These documents are for dental contractors, dental teams and commissioners. They provide updated information on the contractual changes to the GDS contract that come into force from 1 April.
Guidance is provided on service requirements, actions to be taken, payment arrangements and reconciliation processes.
- guidance on the quality and payment reforms (alongside template documents that can be used for quality improvement offer letters and appraisals)
- year 1 topic guide for the quality improvement programme: The topic for year 1 (2026/27 financial year) will focus on assigning dental recall intervals in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
Please note that for the 2026/27 Quality Improvement scheme, contractors must sign up by 6pm on Friday 8 May 2026. The sign-up form will be available within the Contract Management and Payment System. The NHS BSA will notify all contract holders when the sign-up window opens and provide information on where to find the data pack.
The documents published are:
- NHS dentistry: quality and payment reforms contractual guidance
- Annex A: template quality improvement offer communication to eligible Dental Contractors
- Annex C: appraisal template
- NHS dentistry quality improvement programme: Year 1 topic guide
N.B. Annex B (the appraisal process) is included at the end of the NHS dentistry: quality and payment reforms contractual guidance link (point 1 above)
All the documents are available on the NHS England website.
