On 30 March the South East London LDC held an open meeting for all members.
The focus of the meeting was a presentation from Katherine McGirr, Head of Right Touch Regulation at the GDC, on the General Dental Council’s Strategy for 2026-28.
The GDC’s new strategy, which comes with a new Chair of the Board, Helen Phillips, and the relatively recently appointed CEO, Tom Whiting (appointed in 2024), is headlined Trusted and Effective – representing the GDC’s acknowledgement that to rebuild trust with the profession it needs to demonstrate that it is effective and efficient, and to be effective it needs to work with the profession in a spirit of trust.
GDC Prioritises Trust and Reform
Katherine introduced the GDC’s new “trusted and effective” strategy, which aims to support safe and effective patient care. The strategy outlines five key objectives, with a strong focus on reforming the Fitness to Practice (FTP) process. The GDC acknowledged the negative impact of the current adversarial and lengthy FTP process, committing to reduce the resulting “culture of fear” by increasing transparency, improving communication, and developing well-being support services for registrants. Other priorities include enhancing registration and collaborating more effectively with partners across the healthcare sector.
A Call for FTP Transparency and Fairness
Attendees raised significant concerns regarding the FTP process. The negative impact of lengthy case timelines and the ability for anonymous complaints were highlighted as major issues. Professionals called for greater prioritisation of cases with questionable allegations to prevent unnecessary stress and career disruption. The GDC affirmed its commitment to promoting local resolution of complaints, reviewing its fee policy, and addressing shortcomings in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) as noted by the Public Standards Authority (PSA). touched on the GDC’s historical use of private investigators, with the GDC confirming the practice is no longer used for’ but only for high-risk illegal practice cases.
Contract Changes
The meeting also addressed confusion surrounding the new NHS contract changes, specifically the financial structure for unscheduled care treatments and the use of UDAs. It was reiterated that the contract involves a redistribution of existing funds, with advice given to practices to prioritise regular attenders and commit only the minimum percentage to unscheduled care in the first year.
