7/14/2020 | Dental Practices

Dental update from NHSE and the Office of the CDO

On 13 July 2020, NHS England and the Office of the CDO published the fifth in a series of updates to general dental practices and community dental services regarding the emerging Covid-19 situation.

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The letter in question covered key topics, namely; abatement reconciliation and affirmed the definition of patient care activity. More information on this can be found here.

Paul Graham, Head of Dental, Christie & Co, comments:

"It’s encouraging to have clarification on key issues such as abatement reconciliation, future contract performance, the definition of patient activity, and staffing assurances. This is welcome news for the industry and it brings a degree of relief to NHS providers who have been eagerly awaiting clarity.
 
From a Christie & Co transactional perspective this update will undoubtedly help unpick some of our paused pipeline sales. Prior to receiving this clarification, we had solicitors frantically trying to get comfortable with wording around a seller indemnifying and to keep indemnified the buyer against any Covid-19 Clawback. Getting all parties to agree to such wording was proving challenging.
 
It’s encouraging to see performance target thresholds reduced which, in turn, will mitigate the buyer risk significantly, free up the market, and potentially bank funding to the NHS sector, at least. Many of the active lenders have already been in contact with us reacting positively to the news.”