As you all disappear on your long errant holidays – take note.

Finally the GDC have issued a small puff of white smoke from their chimney in Wimpole Street.

After much personal hard work by our colleague Dr Vicky Holden, and an uncertain amount of work by our representative body at the other end of Wimpole Street, the Council of the GDC voted to remove all address details from their on line register.  60,000 mainly female DCPs will I suspect be mightily relieved.  20,000 odd female dentists will rest a little easier.

If you have not been on the end of unwanted attention, it can be many things. Embarrassing … alarming … irritating … flattering …  laughable …  but worst of all of course is when it becomes frightening … perhaps even sinister.

Many of us will have had nurse as employees who find themselves on the receiving end of unwanted attention from some admirer- in-waiting.  Some of us may have even had to step in on occasion

How the previous CEO of the GDC even thought there was any justification in the first place remains a mystery.  But then the workings of the previous CEO were a mystery of course.

Our patients are entitled to know we are registered. In fact 99% of them assume we are.

Perhaps we should put our GDC Number on all correspondence … estimates, invoices, letters etc. I know many do. It’s not a secret.

But it is right that patients with ulterior motives should not be able to pursue an alternative and unwanted agenda.

So hats off to our GDC.  Of course you might ask why the Council did not do this 2 years ago when it still scorchingly obvious to anyone with half a brain that the matter needed addressing, so to speak.

The Council

This episode suggests that the new senior executive management at the GDC are quite different. There is a sense that their agenda may well be one we could subscribe to.

But perhaps this whole ‘address’ saga says more about the Council. It was those 12 Members, 6 of whom are Registrants, who ducked the issue 2 years ago.

It rather confirms in my mind that we have a better Executive in place at the GDC but we still lack a strong Council who will do the right thing at the right time.

Ah yes ...  that brings me to ‘ole Billy boy.  The Old Guard still sitting in that position at the middle of the table I see. Still writing twaddle-blogs! 

Good job he has been able to keep his address secret all these last few years what with all the FtP debacle!!  Perhaps we can look forward to a new method addressing Dr Moyes in the near future:  The Former Chairman …  Then we might see some real changes.

Have a great holiday. May your sun shine on your upturned cheeks!