This is the first time that an overview of self-employed GDS dentists’ earnings and expenses has been produced for Northern Ireland.
Dentists’ pay varies widely depending on the type of dentist; Principals, the higher paid category of self-employed GDS dentists have an average taxable income of £121,174, with Associate dentists, the lower paid category having an average taxable income of £66,134.
This statistical publication presents results based on anonymised tax data for dentists with an accounting year ending in 2007/08. Unless stated otherwise, all averages in the report relate to both full and part-time dentists with varying levels of earnings from the Health Services and private work. The report presents key findings in terms of average taxable income, average expenses and average gross earnings for Principal and Associate dentists.
As a first overview, this report has been labelled as “Experimental Statistics”, in keeping with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice. Experimental statistics are new official statistics undergoing evaluation; they are published as such to involve users and stakeholders in their development, and as a means to build-in quality at an early stage.
This report has been produced by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, in consultation with a working group comprised of representatives from the Department of Health, the Welsh Assembly Government, the NI Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, the British Dental Association, the secretariat for the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Review Body, the NHS Business Services Authority Dental Services and the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants.
Key Points
It is not meaningful to discuss the average earnings of an average dentist as there is great variation in the different financial arrangements. However, the key findings among self-employed GDS Northern Ireland dentists in 2007/08 are given below.
Overall
- Average taxable income (gross earnings minus expenses, before income tax) for Principal dentists was £121,174, compared to £66,134 for Associate dentists. For all dentists (that is, Principal and Associate) this figure was £89,756.
- Average expenses for Principal dentists were £190,053, compared to £37,462 for Associate dentists.
- Average gross earnings for Principal dentists were £311,227, compared to £103,595 for Associate dentists.
- The Expenses to Earnings Ratio (EER) for Principal dentists was 61.1%, compared to 36.2% for Associate dentists. The EER for all dentists was 53.4%. The EER is the proportion of gross earnings taken up by expenses.
- For those self-employed GDS dentists with a high Health Service commitment (ratio of Health Service earnings to total earnings of 75%+), the average EER was 38.1%; whereas those self-employed GDS dentists with a low Health Service commitment (ratio of Health Service earnings to total earnings of up to 25 per cent) had an average EER of 62.9%.
- The report also presents earnings and expenses results by the former Health and Social Services Board areas, age, gender, and by percentage of income earned from Health Service dental work.
- Comparisons with previous years have not been possible, as this is the first time data have been produced for Northern Ireland by the NHS IC.
UK comparisons
- The NHS IC has also produced a separate report for England and Wales; differing contractual arrangements in England and Wales and Northern Ireland mean that comparisons between the two reports should not be made.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Dental Earnings and Expenses Report - Northern Ireland 2007/08 - Experimental Statistics is published on the NHS IC internet site only at: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalearnexp0708ni
2. The Earnings and Expenses Ratio (EER) is a measure of how much of an individual’s gross earnings were consumed by business expenses.
3. General dental practitioners are independent contractors who have undertaken to provide dental treatment and appliances on behalf of the former Health and Social Services Boards (now the Health and Social Care Board). Currently, in Northern Ireland there is only one type of contract under which these dentists can operate, that is, General Dental Services (GDS). Under GDS they have to provide a full range of mandatory dental services. A self-employed Principal dentist is also the practice owner/partner; an Associate dentist is a self-employed dentist that enters into a contractual arrangement with a Principal that is neither partnership nor employment.
4. The NHS Information Centre is England’s authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work.
5. The report was produced by the NHS IC, in consultation with a working group comprised of representatives from the Department of Health, the Welsh Assembly Government, the NI Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, the British Dental Association, the secretariat for the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Review Body, the NHS Business Services Authority Dental Services and the National Association of Specialist Dental Accountants.
6. Data used to produce the 2007/08 Dental Earnings and Expenses Report, Northern Ireland, were taken from two different sources: raw data containing activity and demographic information on dentists in Northern Ireland provided by the former NI Central Services Agency (now the Business Services Organisation) were used to derive the dental population; and self-assessment tax data held and analysed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) statisticians was used to produce the analyses throughout the report.
7. For media enquiries please contact the DHSSPS Press Office on 02890 520074. Out of office hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 076 9971 5440.
