Pause for thought
The GDC has today announced that it will not, as planned, be making final conclusions about the proposed annual retention fee (ARF) level for dentists and dental care practitioners at its September meeting.
It has pushed back that decision until October 30 – an extension of nearly seven weeks over what was originally proposed.
The Council will still be meeting on September 18 and “will consider the outcomes and some broader themes that have emerged about regulation and the handling of complaints in particular.”
In addition to this development, the GDC has commissioned KPMG to consider the background to its own assumptions justifying the rise.
Commenting on these developments the chair of the BDA’s Principal Executive Committee, Mick Armstrong, said:
“The BDA’s response to the GDC consultation raised serious concerns about the integrity of the principles upon which it had justified the fee rise. We await KPMG’s comments on the same assumptions that the independent analysts, FTI, challenged. With such a significant decision it is regrettable that the GDC didn’t make sure its figures were robust before it started.
“We also indicated that two weeks was an unrealistically short period to carry out proper evaluation of the evidence and comments submitted. The GDC has clearly agreed with this challenge and has now extended the period to over four times that long.
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