Latest updates from the GDC
View from the Chair
Our Chair, Lord Toby Harris, highlights the improvements we’re making in fitness to practise through our initial inquiries pilot, the engagement with dental professionals and stakeholders on the best way to provide standards and guidance, Council’s preparations for the forthcoming budget and ARF discussions, and welcomes two new members to Council in his October blog post.
Get involved in exploring professionalism
Our current series of online events exploring new ways of setting standards and providing guidance ends this month. There are still places for our webinars on 11 and 18 October and you can sign up online to hear from the GDC and a panel of stakeholders. You can also get involved through our new website section on exploring professionalism.
This new section of the website provides:
- information about our work on exploring new ways of setting standards and providing guidance
- an example model of standards and guidance that we’d like feedback on
- a short survey to get your feedback
recordings of the online webinars we've held so far.
Join us at this week’s Dentistry Show in London
We’re pleased to be at the Dentistry Show in ExCel London on 6 and 7 October.
We look forward to seeing you there, where GDC staff will be on hand to help answer your questions or discuss any issues. You will find us at stand K28.
DHSC consultation on licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures
The DHSC is inviting views on a proposed licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The proposed scheme aims to ensure consumers can be confident that treatment is safe and of a high standard. Practitioners and premises would need to be licensed to perform specific procedures under the proposed scheme.
The deadline for responses is 28 October 2023.
Building engagement with students and new registrants
Students and new registrants are important audiences to us at the GDC. They are the future workforce and it is important that we support them. This is reflected in the engagement programme which we have run for the past five years, where we meet all first and fifth year BDS students, foundation/vocational dentists, and in recent years, dental hygiene, dental therapy and dental nursing students.
We’ve engaged with thousands of students and new registrants, consistently receiving very positive feedback, both in terms of improving the perception of the GDC and their understanding of the role we play as regulator.
We reflect on the past academic year’s activities in Building understanding: A year in review of our student and new registrant engagement programme.
Routes to registration for internationally qualified dental professionals
We received 245 responses to our consultation and call for evidence on routes to registration for internationally qualified dentists and dental care professionals, which closed on 26 September. Thank you to all those who provided views and submitted evidence.
We are now reviewing responses before presenting the findings to Council in December.
We are working towards having new Rules in place by March 2024.
Response on the supply and administration of medicines under exemptions
We responded positively to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department of Health’s (Northern Ireland) proposals to amend the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 to allow dental hygienists and dental therapists to supply and administer medicines under exemptions.
The consultation closed on 15 September.
Our response is published in the consultations and responses section of our website.
Disclosures Scotland
Disclosure Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government which manages the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme for people doing regulated work with children and protected adults. The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 has made changes to the disclosure system in Scotland. Full implementation of these changes has been delayed from 2024 to April 2025. For details, please see the Disclosure Scotland website.