The FGDP (UK) is concerned at the way in which dental care standards are interpreted within the context of the GDC’s FtP process, and that this may be leading to inappropriate assessment of registrants’ competencies. It is the view of the FGDP (UK) that the GDC’s regulatory processes must account for the fact that dental care involves clinical judgement and widely differing circumstances from patient to patient.
Prompted by reports of disproportionate FtP judgements, as well as discussions with others across the profession, the Faculty initiated a comprehensive review of FGDP (UK) guidance last year that seeks to determine how the standards are being interpreted, both by regulators and the profession. The outcomes of this review will be shared widely.
The Faculty also suggests that issues relating to the consultation that shaped the annual retention fee decision, as well as the events that led to the judicial review initiated by the British Dental Association, point to the need for closer scrutiny of the GDC’s governance processes. The FGDP (UK) believes it is essential that the GDC, like all regulators, is transparent, proportionate and fair in its dealings with the profession. This must include a commitment to ensure that all processes are conducted in a way that is unimpeachable and facilitates full engagement by the profession and stakeholders. This is among several key issues highlighted in the FGDP (UK)’s submission to the Parliamentary Health Select Committee’s Accountability Hearing with the GDC in March 2015.
FGDP (UK) Dean, Trevor Ferguson, states: “The review of Faculty standards represents an important body of work that seeks to determine how the standards are being interpreted, both by regulators and the profession. We are also assessing our standards to ensure that they continue to assist practitioners in making sound clinical judgements and that they support consistency in patient care. We will continue our work with a broad range of stakeholders to help bring about the changes necessary to ensure patient protection, as well as fair and proportionate regulation of the profession.”