Commentary on Sections Part 6 – Primary Care Services Section 203 - Persons eligible to enter into general dental services contracts
1223.This section amends section 102 of the NHS Act to provide for amendments to the organisational types and the background of persons who are permitted to enter into a general dental services (GDS) contract. The section extends slightly the range of organisational arrangements whilst continuing to provide for the professional dental nature of GDS providers through new rules on what constitutes acceptable control of a contracting body.
1224.Subsections (2), (3) and (4) amend section 102(1) and (2) to provide that, whilst a GDS contractor must always include a dental practitioner, in future any person would be able to be part of a limited liability partnership (LLP) or a company limited by shares providing GDS.
1225.Subsections (5), (6) and (7) permit those entering into a GDS contract to arrange their affairs as an LLP, provided that at least one member is a dental practitioner, or falls within a defined group of people within the NHS. This extends the existing provisions which allow dental bodies corporate to enter into a GDS contract, as well as individual dentists and dental partnerships.