Shiv Pabary

Who Shiv Pabary is

Shiv Pabary MBE is a general dental practitioner who was elected Chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC) on 7 February 2025. He qualified in 1985 from Newcastle Dental School and has been a provider and owner of several NHS practices in the North-East, serving as the GDPC representative for Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland since 1996. He also holds a Bachelor of Law degree (LLB Hons, 1995) and is employed as an Associate Clinical Lecturer, Clinical Dental Adviser, and Postgraduate Dental Tutor within Health Education England. He was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Honours List in 2009 for services to NHS dentistry locally. As GDPC Chair, he leads the body that is the only official representative recognised by government in negotiations and consultations on behalf of all general dental practitioners in the UK. He is known for arguing that the current NHS dental contract is broken and that fundamental reform — including scrapping the Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) payment system — is urgently needed.

References for this biography

1. 1.Shiv Pabary elected new General Dental Practice Committee Chair – BDA — Confirms election as GDPC Chair on 7 February 2025
2. 2.General Dental Practice Committee – BDA — Provides professional background: qualified Newcastle 1985, NHS practice owner North-East, GDPC representative since 1996, LLB 1995, Health Education England roles, MBE 2009
3. 3.Services to dentistry honoured – British Dental Journal — Confirms MBE awarded in 2009 Queen's New Year Honours for services to the NHS in Newcastle/Gateshead
4. 4.NHS dental contract changes released – Dentistry.co.uk — Press quote by Pabary as GDPC Chair on NHS contract reform, December 2025
5. 5.New NHS dental contract: taking the case to Parliament – Dentistry.co.uk — Confirms Pabary chaired a parliamentary session on NHS dentistry at Westminster, June 2026
6. 6.Can we fix NHS dentistry? – BDA Blog — Authored piece by Pabary as GDPC Chair on NHS contract reform priorities, March 2025
7. 7.Shiv Pabary MBE – Dentistry.co.uk Expert Profile — Confirms roles as GDPC Executive member, GDC education associate, and NHS England local dental adviser

Notable achievements

• Elected Chair of the BDA General Dental Practice Committee on 7 February 2025, the official government-recognised negotiating body for all UK general dental practitioners. Source ↗
• Awarded an MBE in the Queen's Honours List in 2009 for services to NHS dentistry locally in Newcastle/Gateshead. Source ↗
• Chaired a parliamentary session on NHS dentistry at Westminster in June 2026, bringing together industry experts and MPs from multiple parties. Source ↗
• Participated in GDPC webinar briefing dentists on proposed NHS UDA contract changes in July 2025, as part of government consultation engagement. Source ↗

What Shiv Pabary has said

• “We see a lot of children here that can't see a regular dentist that are turning up with abscesses and infections. We've seen patients that have tried to do DIY dentistry because they're so desperate.”

  Dental clinical adviser · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · Urgent dental access centres in North East and north Cumbria open ↗

• “I think it's professionally very rewarding. It's what we were trained for. And it's just a shame it's got to this stage at the moment where dentists are walking away from the NHS.”

  Dental clinical adviser · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · Urgent dental access centres in North East and north Cumbria open ↗

• “The whole system is just absurd and unfit for purpose. The government wants us to take on more high-risk patients, but if we do that then we lose money and that's the problem.”

  dentist from Newcastle who chairs the BDA's general dental practice committee · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · NHS dentistry is rotting. Will the plan to fix it work? ↗

• “the situation is 'the direct result of choices made by successive governments'. He warns that unless ministers 'fix and fund NHS dentistry', more dentists could choose to reduce their NHS work or leave the service altogether.”

  chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · How easy is it to find an NHS dentist? It depends on where you live ↗

• “What we're seeing here is the direct result of choices made by successive governments. A new team at the Department of Health and Social Care needs to grasp that if they fail to fix and fund NHS dentistry, dentists will have no choice but to walk away.”

  British Dental Association general dental practice committee chair · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · Number of dentists offering NHS services across Yorkshire plummets, new figures show ↗

• “Fixing NHS dentistry remains unfinished business. Tweaks at the margins simply haven't changed the fundamentals. Millions still have no options, and demoralised dentists are still walking away.”

  chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 30 Sept 2026 · Dentists will see fewer NHS patients forcing more people to go private despite access crisis ↗

• “Before the last election Labour told us the cavalry was coming. The longer this profession is left to wait, the less of a service there will be left to save.”

  General Dental Practice Committee chair · Dentistry access · 29 Sept 2026 · BDA rejects incremental NHS dental contract reform ↗

• “These are the biggest tweaks this failed contract has seen in its history. We do hope changes can make things easier for practices and patients in the interim, but this cannot be the end of road.”

  chair of the British Dental Association's (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 10 Sept 2026 · Latest NHS dental contract changes released ↗

• “Ministers have used the vast underspends in NHS dentistry as an excuse not to invest. Underspends have now all but vanished, yet we still have an access crisis. We have practices delivering NHS care at a loss. Without sustainable funding there is no way to restore care to millions.”

  Chair of the BDA General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 10 Sept 2026 · Government dentistry underspend falls by 91% ↗

• “The government says it's fixing the NHS's front door, but a generation of savage cuts has left one part of it hanging off its hinges. Applying double standards to dentistry means promised reforms may well fail. Without needed investment we will continue to see practices struggling to remain viable, and millions unable to access the care they need.”

  chair of the BDA General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 10 Sept 2026 · Experts slam dentistry ‘double standard’ as GPs receive funding uplift ↗

• “Panel member in 'NHS dentistry 2026: reform and the road ahead' to examine the future direction of NHS and mixed dentistry”

  BDA GDPC chair · Dentistry access · 10 Sept 2026 · Practice Plan to host Dental Business Theatre at BDCDS 2026 ↗

• “This team was composed of myself, Dr Shiv Pabary, chair of the British Dental Association (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC), Professor Zoe Marshman, professor of dental public health at the University of Sheffield, and Dr Sarah Weston, clinical development adviser at {my}dentist.”

  chair of the British Dental Association (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee (GDPC) · Dentistry access · 10 Sept 2026 · When I took NHS Dentistry to Parliament… ↗

• “We do hope changes can make things easier for practices and patients in the interim, but this cannot be the end of the road. We need a response proportionate to the challenges we face, to give NHS dentistry a sustainable future.”

  Chair of the British Dental Association's general dental practice committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Dentists in England to be paid more for emergency NHS appointments ↗

• “the direct result of choices made by successive governments”

  chair of the British Dental Association's General Dental Practice Committee · Dentistry access · 27 Aug 2026 · How easy is it to find an NHS dentist? It depends on where you live ↗

• “the elephant in the room regarding reform, which he describes as the 'F-word' (funding), has yet to be addressed”

  BDA chair of the GDPC · Dentistry access · 12 Aug 2026 · Funding: the ‘F word’ missing from government contract reform plans ↗

Where Shiv Pabary has been quoted

1. Dentists to prioritise urgent care and save some patients more than £200 under plansbbc.com · 30 Sept 2026
2. Urgent dental access centres in North East and north Cumbria openbbc.com · 30 Sept 2026
3. Urgent dental access centres in North East and north Cumbria openbbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. NHS dentistry is rotting. Will the plan to fix it work?bbc.com · 30 Sept 2026
5. How easy is it to find an NHS dentist? It depends on where you livebbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
6. Number of dentists offering NHS services across Yorkshire plummets, new figures showyorkshirepost.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
7. Dentists will see fewer NHS patients forcing more people to go private despite access crisismirror.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
8. BDA rejects incremental NHS dental contract reformdentistry.co.uk · 29 Sept 2026
9. Latest NHS dental contract changes releaseddentistry.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
10. Government dentistry underspend falls by 91%dentistry.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
11. Experts slam dentistry ‘double standard’ as GPs receive funding upliftdentistry.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
12. Practice Plan to host Dental Business Theatre at BDCDS 2026dentistry.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
13. When I took NHS Dentistry to Parliament…dentistry.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
14. Dentists in England to be paid more for emergency NHS appointmentstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
15. How easy is it to find an NHS dentist? It depends on where you livebbc.co.uk · 27 Aug 2026
16. Funding: the ‘F word’ missing from government contract reform plansdentistry.co.uk · 12 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Leaders in Care Awards 2026 | Lifetime Achievement: Care Homes winner revealedHome Care Insight
• GP architect of neighbourhood health reforms to leave NHS EnglandPulse Today
• An important step forward in ending corridor care - Colin Poolman | Blog | RCN ScotlandRoyal College of Nursing

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.bda.org/about-us/our-structure/representative-committees/general-dental-practice/general-dental-practice-committee/
• Press office emailmediaprandparliamentary@bda.orgpublished here ↗
• Press office phone020 7563 4145published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.