The Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP[UK]) has welcomed a proposed 13.5% reduction in the annual fees dental surgeries pay to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC, which regulates health and social care providers in England – including over 10,000 dental practices – is moving to a system of setting fees on a full-cost-recovery basis, and has opened a consultation on its proposed fees for 2017/18. Should the proposals go ahead, every provider type other than dental surgeries would see an increase in fees.

In 2015 the CQC reported that over several years it had found that compared to other sectors, dental services present a lower risk to patients' safety, and reduced the number of practices it inspects to 10%. It now anticipates that the costs it incurs in regulating dental practices will fall from £8.4 million in 2016/17 to £7.3 million in 2017/18.

Fees paid by dentists already fully cover the CQC's dental costs, so under the new fee-setting arrangements the cost savings in inspecting the sector will be passed on to providers. By contrast, GPs currently pay only 57% of the costs of regulating GP surgeries, with the rest being picked up by the taxpayer.

The CQC's proposals are contained in its Regulatory Fees consultation document at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20161020_fees-consultation-201718_consultation-document.pdf.