As part of its CPD review the GDC held a four month public consultation between October 2012 and January 2013.
387 responses to the consultation were received from a range of stakeholders, including registrants, postgraduate dental deaneries and professional associations.
The GDC is responding to concerns about CPD quality by calling on providers and the whole dental CPD industry to robustly quality assure their products and services and to develop industry-led standards.
The GDC has also advised registrants to make careful choices about the CPD they do.
A detailed statement, that’s been issued following the CPD consultation, can be found at http://www.gdc-uk.org/Dentalprofessionals/Revalidation/Pages/default.aspx and includes the following:
The GDC is calling on:
• All who provide CPD for dental professionals to ensure they robustly quality assure their
CPD products and services and have effective feedback mechanisms in place. Quality
control is a current legal requirement of verifiable CPD;
• The dental CPD industry to be proactive in working together to develop industry-led quality
standards to give dental professionals, as CPD consumers, assurances about their
products and services;
• All registrants, as consumers of CPD, to make careful choices when investing time and
money in CPD products and services and to obtain advance assurances as to the quality
and value for money.
The GDC’s proposals for the future of CPD were supported by most respondents, including:
• 77.5 per cent that agreed with the introduction of annual mandatory CPD declarations
• 87 per cent that agreed with maintaining a five year CPD cycle
• 83 per cent that agreed with proposed new minimum hours CPD by professional group