Earnings and expenses estimates by percentage of gross earnings from Health Service dentistry
This section of the report looks at the earnings and expenses estimates of self-employed dentists by the percentage of total gross earnings from Health Service dentistry (Health Service gross earnings as a percentage of total gross earnings) for 2019/20. The measure is not comparable with the ‘percentage of time spent on Health Service dentistry’ presented in a later section, as the latter is based on a measure of time as reported by respondents to the Dental Working Patterns Survey, whereas figures in this section are based upon a measure of earnings.
The measure of percentage of gross earnings from Health Service dentistry is subject to some caveats: due to the arrangements in place for payment between Principal and Associate dentists, it is likely to contain a certain amount of overstating of an Associate’s actual level of income from Health Service dentistry, while the opposite is likely to be true for some Principals.
Furthermore, the measure is affected by the fact that some Principal dentists will receive additional income from the Health Service for providing education for dentists in training (Assistants, Vocational Dental Practitioners (VDPs), and those in General Professional Training (GPTs). In most circumstances, and where the Self Assessment tax return has been completed correctly, this income will not be declared as gross earnings, but used to ‘offset’ the expenses incurred for providing such services. This income is, however, included as earnings in the data received from Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Business Services Organisation (BSO) for Health Service earnings. This means that for many dentists who provide such education services, the percentage of gross earnings from Health Service dentistry will be overstated.
It is not possible to quantify the extent to which the issues described above affect the results of the analyses, but any effect is likely to be minimised by aggregating results to the all dentist level, and by employing wide bandings of percentage of income from Health Service dentistry, as shown in this section.
Although sample sizes allow results to be presented for Principals, Associates, and all self-employed dentists, the small sample sizes of each subgroup mean that the values are subject to more uncertainty, as extreme values can have noticeable effects on the averages.
Table 15.1: All self-employed dentists – average earnings and expenses from Health Service and private dentistry by dental type and percentage of gross earnings from Health Service dentistry, Northern Ireland, 2019/20
|
|
|
Mean |
|
Dental
Type |
Percentage of Gross Earnings from Health Service Dentistry¹ |
Report
Population |
Gross
Earnings |
Total Expenses |
Taxable
Income |
Expenses to
Earnings
Ratio |
Principal |
≤25%² |
50 |
£283,300 |
£201,600 |
£81,700 |
71.2% |
>25<75%² |
100 |
£390,400 |
£271,600 |
£118,800 |
69.6% |
≥75%² |
50 |
£183,700 |
£106,400 |
£77,400 |
57.9% |
All² |
200 |
£312,900 |
£213,700 |
£99,200 |
68.3% |
Associate |
≤25%² |
50 |
£196,700 |
£102,300 |
£94,500 |
52.0% |
>25<75%² |
150 |
£147,900 |
£68,400 |
£79,500 |
46.3% |
≥75% |
700 |
£77,300 |
£27,600 |
£49,700 |
35.8% |
All |
900 |
£96,200 |
£39,000 |
£57,200 |
40.5% |
All |
≤25%² |
100 |
£236,400 |
£147,800 |
£88,600 |
62.5% |
>25<75% |
250 |
£254,200 |
£157,500 |
£96,700 |
62.0% |
≥75% |
750 |
£84,400 |
£32,900 |
£51,500 |
39.0% |
All |
1,100 |
£136,900 |
£71,800 |
£65,100 |
52.4% |
Source: NHS Digital |
Notes:
1. Total earnings from Health Service dentistry (based on BSO activity data from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020) as a percentage of total earnings from dentistry during the same period (based on HMRC Self Assessment tax return for 2019/20)
2. Small sample (<125)
3. Further explanatory notes can be found in the Introduction
4. The lowest combined taxable income (from Health Service and private dentistry) for all dentists, of £51,500, was reported for those dentists whose Health Service earnings accounted for at least 75 per cent of their total gross earnings