Each year the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) publishes a performance review of the General Dental Council which outlines the extent to which the regulator is meeting its standards of good regulation.
The latest report by the PSA confirms that the regulator met 16 out of 18 expected standards of a good regulator.
Dr Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection, said:
“The PSA’s report acknowledges that the GDC have made progress in some areas. We have previously stated strong concerns about the impact that communications from the GDC have on those under investigation. The PSA are right to highlight the work the GDC have done to improve their template letters and in training its staff on the tone of voice they use.
“The fact remains however that the regulator is failing to meet a key standard set by the PSA in relation to fitness to practise because it continues to take too long to deal with fitness to practise cases. This is not acceptable.
“Our research shows that the damaging toll lengthy GDC investigations have had on dental professionals, with more than four in five citing the duration of their GDC investigation as having the most impact on their mental health, and more than a quarter saying they experienced suicidal thoughts during the investigation process.
“We will continue to work constructively with the GDC to see how they can make further improvements, and we hope that the next PSA report will be able report on further progress. We will also continue to lobby the government to reform the Dentists Act so the GDC can be given greater discretion to not take forward investigations where allegations clearly do not require action.”
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Notes to editors
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About Dental Protection
Dental Protection is a registered trademark and a trading name of The Medical Protection Society Limited (“MPS”). MPS is the world’s leading protection organisation for doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals. We protect and support the professional interests of more than 300,000 members around the world. Membership provides access to expert advice and support and can also provide, depending on the type of membership required, the right to request indemnity for any complaints or claims arising from professional practice.
Our in-house experts assist with the wide range of legal and ethical problems that arise from professional practice. This can include clinical negligence claims, complaints, medical and dental council inquiries, legal and ethical dilemmas, disciplinary procedures, inquests and fatal accident inquiries.
Our philosophy is to support safe practice in medicine and dentistry by helping to avert problems in the first place. We do this by promoting risk management through our E-learning, publications, conferences, lectures and presentations.
MPS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MPS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.