Legal Q & A's In the Dental Business

In the first of her new series of articles for GDPUK, Hewi Ma of Brabners Solicitors discusses common legal pitfalls in the business of Dentistry.

I have recently extended my dental practice with expansion into the property next door.  Do I need to inform any regulatory bodies?

Congratulations!  This is an exciting time for you and you’re right to check on your CQC registration requirements.

On your initial application to register, or if you bought a practice that had already been registered, the address of the provider will have been registered with the CQC.  If there are any changes; in your case, extending into the next property (eg. Now occupying 100 – 102 High Street), you must notify the CQC by submitting a Statutory Notification.  This must be accompanied with an updated Statement of Activity which will notify the CQC if there are any additional chairs that will be in use.  This is important as your annual CQC registration fee will be based on the number of chairs in use at the practice.  If there are additional chairs, your fee increase will be implemented at the date of your next scheduled invoice.

You must notify the CQC within 28 days of the changes being made by sending them the Statutory Notification and updated Statement of Purpose attached to a covering email setting out a summary of the changes. 

If you fail to do this, you are in breach of the registration regulations which is an offence and if convicted, you could be subject to a fine of up to £2,500.00.

Get in touch with the Brabners team if you have any concerns about your registration!

I hold an nGDS Contract as a sole contractor.  I want to access my NHS pension by taking 24 Hour Retirement but my friend has warned me that the NHS would terminate my contract!  I don’t want to give up my contract as I’m quite happy to carry on working.  How do I avoid this?

Depending on which scheme you are part of, you friend may be right and do heed their warning!

In fact, the NHS’ own guidance advises the contract manager should suggest legal advice be sought by a single-handed contractor before taking 24 Hour Retirement. 

Always seek financial advice before taking steps to access your NHS pension.

Under the 1995 scheme, by taking 24 Hour Retirement to access your pension, you are effectively resigning from your contract and notice must be submitted to the NHS commissioner.  Once you have resigned from the contract, the NHS is under no obligation to return it to you.  You are at risk of losing one of your biggest assets.

The way around this is to enlist the help of a friend or colleague who you trust.  They can be added on to your nGDS Contract as a partner so that when you resign for 24 hours, your partner will be holding the contract on your behalf.  You should time your retirement over a weekend to minimize disruption to the practice.  After 24 hours, you then re-join as a partner at which point you can resign your friend/colleague.  The contract will then be held solely in your name.

Adding someone to your contract should be handled carefully.  What if they refuse to co-operate after your 24 Hour Retirement?  How do you know the right procedure is being followed to enable you to take 24 Hour Retirement?

This is where your specialist dental team can help by:

• - drafting a partnership agreement effectively giving you all control;
• - correspondence with your, your accountant, the NHS and the NHS Pensions Department in respect of the AW8 Pensions Retirement Benefit form;
• - preparing paperwork to remove your incoming partner (held on file to give you total control);
• - submitting a partnership notice to the NHS;
• - corresponding with the NHS throughout the partnership and retirement process;
• - reviewing the partnership contract variation notices;
• - attending to the reversion of the partnership contract to your sole name;
• - ensuring each stage of your 24 Hour Retirement process is handled professionally and in a timely manner.

You should note that CQC registration to reflect the temporary partnership is not required by the NHS which goes someway to enabling you to access your pension pot.

Brabners’ NHS legal specialists are on hand to assist at every step of the way!

If you have any queries regarding the above article or would like to submit your own question, please contact Hewi Ma at Brabners by:

Email:   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel:       0113 5185072

Mob:     07901166026

Web:    https://www.brabners.com/sectors/healthcare-law/dental

This article contains a general overview of information only. It does not constitute, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice. You should consult a suitably qualified lawyer on any specific legal problem or matter.