GDC Will Not Reduce Annual Retention Fee Despite Financial Hardship
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- Published: Monday, 20 April 2020 19:47
- Written by News Editor
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The General Dental Council confirmed on Monday that it will not be considering a reduction in Annual Retention Fees, despite the growing concern, particularly among lower paid dental registrants such as nurses, that they may struggle to pay the ARF this year.
A survey of 215 registrants carried out by GDPUK’s DentistGoneBadd on Twitter showed that nearly 60% of dental workers feel they will struggle to pay the ARF this year, while 7% feel they will not be able to afford the ARF at all, particularly in the light of the extension of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown strategy.
GDPUK put it to the GDC that it “Must be aware of the financial hardship dental workers are facing and must also be aware of the financial concessions made by sympathetic professional bodies like the BADT (which has suspended its membership fees) and the professional indemnity organisations.”
The GDC was asked for a statement on its current position with regard to reducing the ARF while the UK dental profession is effectively closed down. We asked if the GDC is reconsidering its position on maintaining the current ARF levels, by recognising the difficulties faced by many dental professionals and reduce the ARF appropriately.
A GDC media office spokesman press office spokesman merely referred GDPUK back to a blog written by the GDC’s Executive Director, Strategy, Stefan Czerniawski on 8th April.
Mr Czerniawski wrote “Nevertheless, financial pressures remain very real. We understand that and we are hearing concerns very clearly both from individuals and representative bodies who are asking us to reduce or waive ARF payments this year. We always want to keep the cost of regulation as low as possible, which is why we were delighted that we could reduce the ARF for dentists last year by 24%. But we get no funding from government – or anywhere else – and our financial reserves are limited, because we have no wish to be holding registrants’ money unnecessarily. Virtually all our income comes from registrants, which puts very real limits on our ability to be flexible. But we are looking at what might be possible – for example in terms of an emergency instalment scheme – and will provide an update well before the beginning of the ARF round for dental care professionals in the summer.”
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