GDC asks for views on CPD for dental care professionals

The General Dental Council (GDC) is calling for views on its compulsory continuing professional development (CPD) scheme for dental care professionals (DCPs), which it proposes to introduce in July 2008. A review group was set up by the GDC in July 2006 to consider the development of CPD for DCPs. The group has proposed a scheme which will run on the same principles as the scheme for dentists and is now asking for the views of the public, dental professionals and others on two key areas. • How many hours of CPD should DCPs undertake? The GDC is proposing to introduce a CPD scheme in which DCPs will complete 150 hours of CPD in a 5-year cycle with 50 of those hours being verifiable CPD. This equates to 30 hours per year of which 10 are verifiable CPD. • Which recommended core topics should DCPs complete as part of their CPD? The GDC plans to include the same recommended core topics (medical emergencies, disinfection and decontamination, and radiography and radiation protection) as dentists as part of verifiable CPD for clinical dental technicians, dental hygienists, dental nurses, dental therapists and orthodontic therapists. For dental technicians the GDC intends to substitute dental materials and equipment for radiography and radiation protection. This is because the dental technician curriculum does not include radiography and radiation protection as it does for other DCP groups. GDC President Hew Mathewson said: "All dental professionals need to keep their knowledge up-to-date by carrying out continuing professional development, which is an important part of our role in protecting the public. "Extending the compulsory continuing professional development scheme to dental care professionals is the first step in building towards a revalidation scheme for all our registrants. We will consult separately on our revalidation proposals for the whole dental team next year." The consultation document is available on the GDC website at http://www.gdc-uk.org/News+publications+and+events/Consultations/. The closing date for responses is 16 March 2007.