National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025: final business and regulatory impact assessment

Section 3: Costs, impacts and benefits

Quantified costs to businesses

We do not expect there to be any direct costs to businesses associated with the proposed changes.

Other impacts

We expect that these changes will be neutral or positive in impact.

Prior Approval

The changes to prior approval will reduce the onerous nature of the system, by removing the need to submit for prior approval for low risk treatments whilst still ensuring that there is appropriate governance for higher risk treatment plans.

Mandatory Training

The changes to mandatory training will not affect the majority of practices, but it may have some benefit in areas with lower level of recruitment, e.g. rural areas, as practices will not need to wait for several months for the dentist to complete mandatory training before they are able to provide NHS general dental services.

Scottish firms’ international competitiveness

As these changes relate to NHS dental services there is no international dimension.

Benefits to business

We do not anticipate that these changes will have any impact on other business or sectors of the supply chain.

Small business impacts

Prior Approval

The changes to prior approval will reduce the onerous nature of the system, by removing the need to submit for prior approval for low risk treatments whilst still ensuring that there is appropriate governance for higher risk treatment plans. It may also reduce potential delays to treatment for patients with low clinical risk treatment plans that are being caught by the current financial limit.

Mandatory Training

The changes to mandatory training will not affect the majority of practices, but it may have some benefit in areas with lower level of recruitment, e.g. rural areas, as practices will not need to wait for several months for the dentist to complete mandatory training before they are able to provide NHS general dental services.

Investment

Not applicable.

Workforce and Fair Work

Prior Approval

The changes to prior approval will likely reduce some of the administrative burden on clinical teams which could lead to a resultant improvement in job satisfaction.

Mandatory Training

The changes to mandatory training may help practices to recruit dentists which could improve the work environment by ensuring staff have a manageable patient load.

Climate change/ Circular Economy

Not applicable.

Competition Assessment

Not applicable.

Consumer Duty

The proposed changes will generally have little impact on consumers. For those potentially affected by the changes to prior approval, any impact should be either neutral, or in the case where a patient’s course of treatment no longer requires prior approval, it may be positive as their treatment would not be delayed by having to submit for prior approval. The changes to mandatory training will not affect the majority of practices, but it may have some benefit in areas with lower level of recruitment, e.g. rural areas, as practices will not need to wait for several months for the dentist to complete mandatory training before they are able to provide NHS general dental services, which could have a positive impact on access to NHS dental services for patients in some areas.