Specialist accountancy for associates, practice owners and squat founders in Liverpool — from a team that works exclusively with dentists.
The short version. Health service dentistry in Liverpool is commissioned by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board. Income comes from UDA-based GDS/PDS contracts, with contract payments administered by the NHS Business Services Authority. Practices are inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and dentists are in the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales, administered by the NHS Business Services Authority. We work with Liverpool dentists remotely, and only with dentists.
A predominantly NHS heartland where UDA economics and contract delivery decide practice profitability more than almost anywhere else.
Where a practice is heavily NHS, profitability is essentially a function of two numbers: the UDA rate and delivery against contract. Everything else is second order. That makes the monthly job simple to describe and unforgiving to skip — track delivery against target every month, because a shortfall found in month eleven is a clawback and a shortfall found in month three is a plan.
Associates on a UDA-based agreement in a predominantly NHS practice carry more risk in the pay arrangement than they usually realise, particularly around lab costs and how under-delivery is shared. It is worth having the agreement read before you sign it, not after the first reconciliation. Rates on the surgery are assessed by the Valuation Office Agency and billed by Liverpool City Council.
One of the largest ICBs in England covers Liverpool, taking in the whole of Cheshire and Merseyside. A wide commissioning area means a wide pool of comparable contracts — helpful when you are testing whether your UDA rate is competitive, and helpful to a buyer doing the same to you.
NHS dentistry in England runs on UDA contracts commissioned by ICBs, with delivery tested annually and under-delivery clawed back — so contract performance is a financial number, not just a compliance one. Practices are regulated by the CQC, and practice purchases here need CQC registration planned into the timetable. Our benchmarking, due diligence and clawback analysis are built around exactly this system.
The University of Liverpool School of Dentistry, at the Liverpool University Dental Hospital is in the city, which means foundation trainees and newly qualified associates locally, and a hospital referral route on the doorstep. Dental Foundation Training in England is run by NHS England's Workforce, Training and Education directorate — your first year out is a training placement, not simply a job, and it is taxed and pensioned differently from self-employed associate work that follows it.
"How much is my dental practice worth" has a different answer in England than elsewhere in the UK, because the payment system your income comes from is different — UDA-based GDS/PDS contracts, with contract payments administered by the NHS Business Services Authority. A valuation built on English UDA assumptions will misread a Scottish or Northern Irish practice, and a Welsh one whose activity measures have been rebased by contract reform. Our valuation guide explains how the nation changes the answer.
No, and it is worth being honest about why. Everything runs remotely — video and phone around clinical hours, records and approvals handled securely online — which is how most of our clients prefer it: no afternoons lost to accountant visits. What you gain by widening the search past your postcode is a firm that already knows UDA-based GDS/PDS contracts, the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) without being told.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board. Income is earned through UDA-based GDS/PDS contracts, with contract payments administered by the NHS Business Services Authority, and practices are inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
More than the address. In England you are in the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales, administered by the NHS Business Services Authority, you pay UK income tax rates and bands, your practice is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and health service income comes from UDA-based GDS/PDS contracts, with contract payments administered by the NHS Business Services Authority. A cross-border move changes the pension scheme, the payment mechanism, the regulator and often the tax arithmetic at the same time, so it is worth a conversation before the start date rather than after it.
No — we work remotely with dentists across England and the whole UK, by video and phone, scheduled around clinical hours, with everything shared securely online. In practice that means faster responses than a local generalist, from a team that only does dentistry.
Yes — pre-offer appraisals, financial due diligence, funding introductions and structure advice, built around how health service dentistry actually works in England. Send us the sales pack before you offer, not after.
Your tax return filed early, a monthly set-aside figure so January is a non-event, your superannuation reconciled against actual pensionable earnings, honest incorporation advice with the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales in the picture, and unlimited advice through the year — all for a fixed monthly fee.
A free, no-obligation conversation about your situation. If we can't add value, we'll tell you.
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