In its 2016 annual review of the GDC, it found that it is meeting 21 of the 24 standards, up from the 15 met in the 2015 review.
The PSA assesses performance in the core functions of all professional regulators. The report confirms the GDC is meeting:
- All four standards for standards and guidance.
- All four standards for education and training.
- All six standards for registration.
- Seven of the 10 fitness to practise standards (up from two in last year’s review).
Commenting on the PSA report, Ian Brack, chief executive of the General Dental Council (GDC), said: “We have invested significant effort in improving our performance against the standards of good regulation, and that effort is paying off.
“Once again, we have met all the requirements for standards and guidance, and for education and training, and we are now meeting all those for registration.
“We know that our performance in fitness to practise has struggled in the face of enormous increases in caseload in recent years and we’ve worked very hard to turn that around. And we know there is still much work to be done.
“But if the system of dental regulation is really going to protect patients effectively, be fair to registrants and be cost effective, we know that it needs fundamental reform based on strong partnerships and collaboration by all involved, including the profession itself. We can’t count on or wait for legislation to do it all for us.
“We cannot do this alone, and we will be shortly outlining proposals which will set out in detail the further improvements we want to make through our programme of regulatory reform, working with our partners, the profession and patients.”
The British Dental Association (BDA) has said the General Dental Council (GDC) must not to be distracted from fixing its fitness to practise function.
The report shows that while the GDC has shown improvement this year, it has failed to meet standards 4, 8 and 10 on fitness to practise, with issues raised on the review and prioritisation of complaints, the quality of final decisions and the secure retention of information on cases.
BDA research has found that many GDPs identify anxiety over complaints and fitness to practise as a common source of stress.
Mick Armstrong, chair of the BDA, said, “The General Dental Council has a mountain to climb to cast off its reputation as Britain’s least effective and least efficient health regulator.
“This profession acknowledges signs of progress, but the GDC has no grounds for complacency. Today, a dentist is still expected to pay more than any other healthcare professional for a regulator that still cannot provide an adequate fitness to practise function.
“There can be no room for distractions, pet projects or mission creep while the dental regulator remains incapable of delivering on its fundamental purpose.”
Similarly, Leo Briggs, deputy head at the Dental Defence Union (DDU) commented that things were moving in the right direction at the GDC, but that the DDU would continue to work with the regulator to further improve the fitness to practise process. He said: “We hope things will improve further now that GDC Case Examiners have started work, as they should help to address concerns earlier in the fitness to practise process. The DDU will be monitoring the impact of the case examiners to ensure they achieve the desired outcome for our members."