The spreadsheet that gets updated when someone is worried
Most NHS or mixed practices have a spreadsheet somewhere with UDA targets per associate and a column that is meant to be updated monthly from the NHS portal. In practice it is updated when the owner gets nervous, usually around the middle of the contract year, and by then the options are narrower.
The owner wants to know something simple: are we going to deliver what the contract says, and if not, which performers or sessions are behind? The information exists, spread across claim submissions, the diary and the open courses of treatment in the practice management system.
Why the picture is never current
- UDAs are credited when a course of treatment is completed and claimed, so work in progress is invisible in the portal figures.
- Associates join and leave mid-year, and their share of the target is often agreed informally.
- Claims can be delayed, queried or rejected, so submitted is not the same as credited.
- The diary shows booked time, not the UDA value of what is booked.
- Nobody owns pulling it together, so it happens in a rush.
What late visibility costs
Finding out late leaves fewer choices. The owner cannot add sessions, rebalance lists or talk to an associate about their book in good time. It also creates tension, because an associate hearing in month ten that they are behind feels ambushed. We do not advise on contract management or what the consequences of under-delivery are for your practice; that is between you, your adviser and your commissioner. What we can do is make sure you are not guessing.
There is a knock-on effect on the private side too. Owners who are unsure about NHS delivery tend to hold chair time back just in case, which can leave private diaries tighter than they need to be. A clear weekly figure lets the owner decide how to use sessions based on the actual position.
How we build the weekly UDA view
- We read completed and submitted courses of treatment from your practice management system, with performer, band and date, through an API or scheduled report.
- Where you export figures from the NHS portal, we import them so credited totals sit next to submitted ones and any difference is visible.
- Open courses of treatment are counted separately as work in progress, by band, so the view shows what is likely to land.
- Booked NHS appointments in the next weeks are summarised per performer.
- Each performer's target share, which you enter, is spread across the year in the way you choose, not assumed to be flat.
- A weekly summary goes to the owner and practice manager, with each performer shown as ahead, on track or behind against their own line.
| Figure | Where it comes from | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Credited | Portal export | What counts towards the contract |
| Submitted not yet credited | Practice system | Shows claims in flight or queried |
| Open courses | Practice system | Likely delivery not yet claimed |
| Booked sessions | Diary | Capacity in the coming weeks |
A contract year without surprises at the end
The owner opens one page on Monday and sees where each performer is. Conversations with associates happen early and are based on the same numbers everyone can see. The practice manager stops rebuilding the spreadsheet. And because submitted and credited figures sit side by side, claim problems show up as a gap rather than a shock.
Associates can be given their own view if you want, showing only their figures against their own share. Many prefer to see where they stand without having to ask, and it takes the awkwardness out of a mid-year conversation.
Is this where your practice is?
- UDA tracking lives in a spreadsheet updated irregularly.
- You find out about under-delivery late in the contract year.
- Associates' target shares are not written down anywhere central.
- You cannot see open courses of treatment by performer quickly.