We are not at fault says GDC
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- Published: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 07:40
- Written by News Editor
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The General Dental Council (GDC) has responded to the damning report by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) by denying that the problem lies with them. Chief Executive Evlynne Gilvarry, said: “The GDC has been campaigning for legislative change to improve the effectiveness of regulation of dental professionals for a number of years. We hope that ministers will take the time to consider the PSA’s warnings and act accordingly”.
Ms Gilvarry continued: “The PSA rightly stresses the need for regulators to increase their focus on preventing breaches of standards. At the GDC we have already taken a number of steps to achieve this, including:
- Clarifying our standards so that dental professionals can more easily meet the legitimate expectations of patients;
- Maintaining a high threshold for quality assurance of education and university trainingvso that we can be sure newly-qualified dental professionals can practise safely; and
- Strengthening our programme of continued professional development (CPD) to ensure dental professionals remain up-to-date. The revised programme will be piloted next year .
“Our new corporate strategy to be launched in the autumn will set out a clear vision with the patient at its heart,” she said, “We have already instigated a significant programme of change within the GDC which will help us to support dental professionals to deliver high standards of care and maintain public confidence in the profession.”
She concluded: “Within the current regulations we can only go so far. We welcome the opportunity to work with the PSA and the Department of Health to create a regulatory framework that is fit for the 21st century.”
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