The National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005

Action the Primary Care Trust can take following a mid-year review

59.—(1) Where, following the mid-year review and the sending of the final record of that review to the contractor, the Primary Care Trust, having taken account of any evidence or reasons put forward by the contractor at that review, nevertheless has serious concerns that the contractor is unlikely to provide the number of—

(a) units of dental activity; or

(b) units of orthodontic activity,

that it is required to provide by the end of the financial year, the Primary Care Trust shall be entitled to take either or both of the steps specified in sub-paragraph (2).

(2) The Primary Care Trust may—

(a) require the contractor to comply with a written plan drawn up by the Primary Care Trust to ensure that the level of activity during the remainder of the financial year is such that the contractor will provide the number of units of dental activity or units of orthodontic activity it is required to provide; or

(b) withhold monies payable under the contract.

(3) The maximum amount that may be withheld pursuant to sub-paragraph (2)(b) is—

(a) the amount that is payable under the contract in respect of the number of units of dental activity or units of orthodontic activity required to be provided in a financial year, less

(b) the amount that would be payable under the contract as a relevant proportion of that amount if the contractor provided in the whole of the financial year only twice the number of units of dental activity or orthodontic activity that he provided between 1st April and 30th September.

(4) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the Primary Care Trust and the contractor agreeing to vary the contract in accordance with paragraph 61 to adjust—

(a) the level of activity to be provided under the contract; or

(b) the monies to be paid by the Primary Care Trust to the contractor under the contract.

(5) Where the Primary Care Trust withholds monies under to paragraph (2), it shall ensure that it pays the withheld monies to the contractor as soon as possible following the end of the financial year where the contractor has—

(a) provided the number of units of dental activity or units of orthodontic activity required to be provided; or

(b) failed to provide that number of units of dental activity or units of orthodontic activity, but that failure amounts to 4 per cent or less of the total number of units of dental activity or units of orthodontic activity that ought to have been provided during that financial year (and therefore regulation 19 applies).