New GDC Chief Executive Appointed

New GDC Chief Executive Appointed

After some months with a depleted Executive Team, the GDC have announced the appointment of their new Chief Executive and Registrar.

According to the GDC website, Tom Whiting has now been appointed, and, “will take up his position in the next three months.”

The GDC has provided some highlights from Mr Whiting’s CV. His last post was at the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) where he is Acting Director General having been Deputy Director General since 2019. 

According to the GDC while at the IOPC, “he was committed to building effective relationships internally and externally and to creating a motivated workforce dedicated to improving public trust and confidence in policing.” 

Reference is made to his focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, both in ensuring that service delivery and regulatory processes are fair and in building an inclusive workplace and culture. 

Before his time at the IOPC, he spent fourteen years in local government at Harrow Council, most recently as their Interim Chief Executive, where he was responsible for public health, public protection services, safeguarding children and adults, and a range of regulatory services including environmental health, trading standards, planning and building control. For many years he was responsible for finance, people and legal and governance services.  

Lord Toby Harris, GDC Chair, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Tom as the GDC’s new Chief Executive Officer. He brings the skills, qualities and experience needed to help us further develop trust and high performance as well as enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion for staff and in our regulatory processes. 

"Tom will join the GDC at an exciting time, as we remain focused on our performance, modernise how we register dental professionals who qualify abroad and develop our corporate strategy for 2026-2028. 

"One of Tom’s priorities will be to build and maintain the trust of the public and the professions, as well as key external stakeholders across the four nations, and I am looking forward to working with him to do so.”  

On accepting his appointment, Tom Whiting said: “I am really pleased to join the GDC at such a pivotal time and look forward to meeting staff, dental professionals and external stakeholders to understand their views and priorities. The dental sector and the public face many challenges and I want to work together with all stakeholders to tackle our shared issues and make progress on shared goals. 

"From my time in different public sector bodies, I understand the need to balance constraints with opportunities, and to build trust and confidence through transparency, open communication and a commitment to learning. I am hugely excited about doing so in the GDC and look forward to joining very soon.” 

Senior Independent Director at the IOPC, Julia Mulligan, commenting on his departure, said that he left with their warmest wishes for the future, and added, “The GDC can be sure they have made the right choice.”

The previous Chief Executive, Ian Brack, arrived at the GDC in 2018 following a period of turmoil under his predecessor, Evlynne Gilvarry, and it was hoped that he would help to turn the GDC around. He departed at very short notice in November 2023. Notably there was minimal comment from the GDC about his departure, nor the usual expressions of appreciation from colleagues for his services. His LinkedIn profile suggests that he has not yet found another post.

GDPUK wishes Mr Whiting well, and hopes that he can help deliver the turnaround that has so far eluded the GDC, in particular in fixing its internal problems, restoring trust in the FTP process, and delivering genuine transparency.

Image Credit Police Professional | Tom Whiting to leave IOPC for new role at General Dental Council


You need to be logged in to leave comments.
0
0
0
s2sdefault

Please do not re-register if you have forgotten your details,
follow the links above to recover your password &/or username.
If you cannot access your email account, please contact us.

Mastodon Mastodon