The Scottish Government would like to invite dentists to participate in an exercise to help inform future pay awards for general dental practitioners. At present the Scottish Government does not have enough information to help it calculate the expenses element of the pay award.

Readers may be aware that in recent years the independent Doctors' and Dentists' Pay Review Body (DDRB) have also said that they do not have enough information. In light of this the Scottish Government is introducing an annual expenses programme from 2018. Practices will be asked to complete a simple online accounts template using information that is readily available in practice accounts. This will allow the Scottish Government to build up a picture of trends in expenses over time and help to inform the pay award. From the middle of April practices that are eligible to participate will receive an email from the ScotXed team with instructions on how to take part in the exercise.