GDC strategy targets preventative dental care
A continued switch in balance towards prevention rather than cure is at the heart of a three-year plan published by the General Dental Council (GDC).
The GDC Costed Corporate Plan 2023-25 sets out four strategic aims to support those working in dentistry jobs:
Ensuring that dental professionals are well-trained, and deliver care to high standards, supported by a regulatory approach which enables prevention of harm, as well as lifelong learning.
Creating an environment where concerns about dental professionals are addressed effectively and proportionately to protect the public and support professional learning.
Using the organisation’s insight to highlight risks to patient safety and wellbeing, and encouraging the right parts of the dental sector to respond.
Improving efficiency and effectiveness of dental professional regulation, as well as ensuring it adapts to the changing external environment.
Key challenges
In moving the balance of its efforts towards preventative care, the GDC faces a number of challenges, including delays and uncertainty over plans to reform the health professional regulators and changes to registration procedures following Brexit, not to mention the current cost of living crisis and economic pressures, which are impacting patient choice, dental businesses, individual dental professionals and the GDC.
The GDC aims to continue to press for legislative reform, but is aware that this is by no means a certainty and is unlikely to resolve all existing issues. Therefore, it’s committed to continuing to drive improvements within current constraints, while supporting and empowering dental professionals to deliver safe and effective dental care to high standards of professionalism.
Ambitious work programme
The GDC is planning 57 projects which support its four strategic aims for 2023-25. Of these, 32 are ‘flow through’ projects that started in previous years and 20 are new initiatives that will launch in 2023.
Planned projects include:
developing and implementing revised Standards for Education for those planning careers in dentistry,
redesign of the GDC’s Fitness to Practice key performance indicators (KPIs),
improvements in digital communications,
making UK registration paperless.
What is the GDC’s role?
The GDC is the UK-wide statutory regulator tasked with protecting the public and ensuring that they have confidence in the services provided by dental professionals. The GDC regulates over 115,000 people who are employed in jobs in dentistry, including clinical dental technicians, dental hygienists, dental nurses, dental technicians, dental therapists and orthodontic therapists.
The GDC works closely with practising dental professionals across many areas of its work to ensure key decisions are taken with the benefit of professional experience and expertise. This includes consulting on educational provision for those planning to work in dentistry and having panels of dental professionals to help ensure that overseas applicants for UK registration have the relevant knowledge and skills to practice effectively and safely.
